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Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

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Princeton  Theological  Seminary  Library 


http://www.archive.org/details/fifteenthcenturyOOprim 


FIFTEENTH  CENTURY  BIBLES. 


gxltmtl  cmenttttg  fiMes 


STUDY     IN     BIBLIOGRAPHY 


BY 


WENDELL^  PRIME 


m 


NEW  YORK 
ANSON  D.  F.  RANDOLPH  AND  COMPANY 


MDCCCLXXXVIII 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1888, 

By  Wendell  Prime, 

In  the  office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington,  D.  C. 


PRESS  OF  EUGENE  R.   COLE,    T    WM.  ST.  AND  d    MAIDEN  LANE,  N.   Y. 


8ro  tije  Beatrcr: 

iWans  iDj&o  fjafac  a  genuine  refiarlr  for  olir  ani 
flooir  fioofes  j&abe  not  matre  t$e  acquaintance  of  tjfiose  fioofes 
ii)|)ic5  are  6otf)  t{)e  ol&est  an&  fiest  of  printetr  bolumes. 
E^ia  stu&2  of  tije  JStfiles  of  tje  jFifteentfj  ffienturs  inclu&es 
ti)e  oltrest  of  printetr  booi^s,  and  onl^  tijose  bDf)icj^  are 
inclutreir  in  tfje  class  callelr  INCUNABULA,  namelg,  tioofes 
jprintcS  Irurinfl  tije  first  5alf=centurs  of  tj&e  art,  1450*1500, 
^.  30.  Sjbus  tije  ijistorg  of  tfje  printeir  3Si6Ie  is  tfft  j&istors 
of  t^e  inbention  anDr  progress  of  tlje  art  of  printing. 

SSaentreU  prime. 


CHAPTER  I. 


■i^ 


Z^t  ^Mm(  (iJingbonu 


THE  FIRST  BOOK  IS  THE  BIBLE.  It  is  the 
first  complete  book  which  was  printed  with 
movable  types.  It  is  the  first  book  in  the 
number  of  its  editions,  copies  and  translations.  In  this 
respect  it  exceeds  every  other  book  so  immensely  that 
there  is  no  other  book  with  which  it  may  be  compared. 
Considered  entirely  apart  from  its  contents,  character 
and  claims,  it  is  easily  the  first  book,  standing  alone 
among  books  of  all  languages,  nations  and  ages. 

The  first  book  printed  with  movable  types  was 
printed  by  John  Gutenberg  at  Mentz,  Germany,  between 
1450  and  1456  A.  D.  This  claim  to  be  the  Alpha  of  all 
printed  books,  as  it  is  daily  the  Omega  of  all  printed 
books,  has  been  disputed  with  all  possible  ingenuity  and 
erudition.  But  no  other  volume,  up  to  the  present  hour, 
has  found  any  recognition  as  its  predecessor.     Holland 


6  FIFTEENTH    CENTURY   BIBLES. 

makes  the  most  persistent  and  plausible  rival  claim  to 
the  invention  of  printing.  If  Laurens  Janszoon  Coster 
of  Haarlem  should  ever  be  acknowledged  as  an  earlier 
printer  than  Gutenberg,  which  is  not  at  all  probable, 
this  would  not  in  the  least  degree  affect  the  position  of 

THE  GUTENBERG  BIBLE  AS   THE  FIRST  BOOK  in  the  annals 

of  Typography. 

It  is  considered  the  most  splendid  specimen  of 
typography  extant.  Like  the  sculpture  of  Phidias,  it 
sprang  into  being,  without  a  predecessor,  in  defiance 
of  the  theory  of  evolution.  Its  successors  number,  it 
may  be,  250,000,000,  No  one  need  dispute  about  these 
figures,  for  more  Bibles  are  now  printed  daily,  than  at 
any  previous  period,  and  therefore  every  day  adds  to 
their  number  by  thousands.  No  other  book  ever 
influenced  men  to  bestow  their  treasures  of  time, 
learning  and  money  to  print,  publish  and  send  it  forth 
by  millions.  There  are  Shakespeare  Societies  and 
Browning  Societies,  but  their  sphere  is  comparatively 
narrow  and  insignificant.  All  endeavors  of  every  kind 
to  exalt  or  disseminate  published  writings  serve  to  show 
that  the  Bible  as  a  successful  book  has  no  peer.  All 
other  books  follow  at  so  vast  a  distance  that  it  shines 
alone,  a  sun  among  the  planets.  The  Bible  is  the  only 
book  for  which  languages  are  invented  that  it  may  be 
multiplied  in  regions  where  written  and  printed  words 
were  previously  unknown. 

Astronomers  endeavor  to  aid  us  in  our  conception  of 
stellar  distances  by  comparing  them  with  the  greatest 


A    STUDY    IN    BIBLIOGRAPHY.  7 

terrestrial  distances  with  which  we  are  familiar.  By 
similar  comparison  we  may  obtain  some  conception  of 
the  vastness  of  the  Biblical  sphere  compared  with  that 
of  the  most  popular  of  all  other  publications.  The  world 
has  produced  less  than  six  books  which  have  been  trans- 
lated into  thirty  or  forty  languages  and  whose  editions 
can  be  counted  by  a  few  hundreds.  But  the  Bible  has 
been  translated  into  more  than  200  languages,  and  many 
years  ago  its  known  editions  were  at  least  30,000. 

It  is  believed  by  those  who  have  devoted  the  most 
attention  to  bibliography  that  Thomas-a-Kempis's 

JJmitation  of  (Jtijrist 

ranks  next  to  the  Bible  in  the  number  of  its  editions, 
translations  and  copies.  It  was  first  printed  at  Augsburg, 
by  Giinther  Zainer,  in  1468,  a  small  folio  of  seventy-six 
leaves,  and  was  reprinted  more  than  twenty  times  before 
the  end  of  the  century.  But  before  the  end  of  this  same 
century  nearly  a  thousand  editions  of  the  Bible  had 
been  issued.  In  1864,  the  late  celebrated  bibliographer, 
Augustine  de  Backer,  published  a  bibliographical 
"  Essai  "  on  the  "  Imitation  "  in  which  he  enumerated 
about  three  thousand  editions.  Before  his  death,  in  1873, 
he  had  collected  evidence  of  more  than  three  thousand 
additional  editions.  His  learned  brother,  Aloys  de 
Backer,  took  up  his  brother's  work,  and  was  preparing  a 
second  edition  of  the  *'  Essai,"  inclusive  of  still  more 
editions,  when  death  ended  his  labors  in  1883.  In  1838, 
a  collection   of  different   editions   of  the   "  Imitation " 


8  FIFTEENTH    CENTURY    BIBLES. 

was  given  to  the  municipal  library  of  Cologne  which 
contained  400  copies. 

by  John  Bunyan,  probably  ranks  next  to  the  "  Imitation  " 
in  the  number  of  its  editions,  translations  and  copies. 
The  first  part  was  first  printed  in  London,  1678,  a  copy 
of  which  is  in  the  Lenox  Library.  In  the  Bunyan 
collection  in  this  library  there  are  278  editions  of  the 
first  part,  196  of  the  second  part,  and  73  of  the  third 
part. 

JBon  (JUrtttpotr, 

by  Cervantes,  is  probably  the  third  most  popular  book 
ever  printed.  Its  first  part  was  first  printed  at  Madrid, 
1605,  and  its  second  part  was  first  printed  in  the  same 
place  16x2.  It  has  been  translated  into  all  European 
languages,  including  Turkish  and  Greek,  and  several 
times  in  all  the  leading  languages.  About  300  editions 
are  known,  only  one-third  of  which  were  printed  in 
Spain. 

It  is  not  probable  that  there  is  a  fourth  book  in  any 
language  which  approaches  any  one  of  these  three 
mentioned,  in  the  number  of  its  copies,  translations  and 
editions.  Whatever  may  be  the  circulation  of  these  or 
any  other  world-famous  books,  none  has  been  or  is  so 
successful  as  to  alter  the  relative  position  of  the  Bible 
in  the  world  of  printing,  for  its  editions  are  numbered 
by  the  tens  of  thousands,  and   its  translations  by  the 


A    STUDY    IN    BIBLIOGRAPHY.  9 

hundreds.  Practically,  its  editions  are  innumerable 
because  it  has  been  printed  in  so  vast  a  variety  of  forms. 
These  different  forms  and  issues  could  not  be  estimated 
with  any  approach  to  accuracy  unless  several  persons 
in  every  generation  were  devoted  to  this  one  biblio- 
graphical endeavor.  Doubtless  the  majority  of  these 
editions  have  in  their  number  of  copies  averaged  larger 
than  the  ordinary  editions  of  other  books,  and  this  adds 
greatly  to  its  relative  supremacy. 

In  this  numerical  comparison  the  Koran  is  not 
forgotten.  Though  it  is  read  or  heard  by  the  millions 
of  Islam,  its  character  and  usage  remove  it  from  the 
category  in  which  the  Bible  is  considered.  It  is  among 
reading,  printing,  progressive  nations  that  the  Bible  is 
the  first  book,  the  "  Book  of  Books,"  every  year  more 
and  more  without  a  rival.  This  Biblical  conquest 
seems  more  marvelous  when  we  consider  that  it  has 
been  achieved,  in  spite  of  the  deadly  hostility  of  what 
was  known  throughout  the  world  as  Christianity,  when 
printing  was  invented. 


^ 

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1 

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1 

^ 

CHAPTER    II. 


MUCH  is  written,  especially  by  scientists,  about 
the  conflict  between  science  and  religion. 
Science  ought  not  to  complain.  Its  conflict  is 
a  mere  lover's  quarrel  compared  with  the  conflict  of  the 
Bible  with  religion.  This  entire  book,  closely  printed, 
would  not  suffice  for  a  record  of  the  bulls,  canons, 
edicts,  confiscations,  imprisonments,  tortures,  stranglings, 
burnings  and  other  ecclesiastical  demonstrations  to  sup- 
press and  exterminate  the  Bible,  its  translators,  editors, 
printers,  publishers,  disseminators  and  readers.  Pagan 
Rome  was  not  more  ferocious  in  her  endeavor  to 
obliterate  the  Gospel  than  papal  Rome  in  her  attempt 
to  exterminate  the  Scriptures. 

This  conflict  of  the  printed  Bible  was  inevitable  in 
view  of  the  position  occupied  by  the  Church   of  Rome 


A    STUDY    IN    BIBLIOGRAPHY.  II 

for  several  centuries.  We  record  briefly  a  few  of  the 
most  significant  incidents  in  this  most  tragical  chapter 
in  the  annals  of  bibliography. 

In  1080,  Uratislaus,  the  King  of  Bohemia,  asked 
Hildebrand  if  he  might  have  the  offices,  or  prayers  of 
the  church,  performed  in  the  Slavonian  tongue,  at  that 
time  the  common  language  of  the  north  of  Europe.  To 
this  the  Pontiff  replied :  "  I  will  never  consent  for 
services  to  be  performed  in  the  Slavonian  tongue.  //  is 
the  will  of  God  that  his  ivord  should  be  hidden,  lest  it 
should  be  despised  if  read  by  every  one  j  and  if,  in 
condescension  to  the  weakness  of  the  people,  the 
contrary  has  been  permitted,  it  is  a  fault  which  ought 
to  be  corrected.  The  demand  of  your  subjects  is 
imprudent ;  I  shall  oppose  it  with  the  authority  of  St. 
Peter ;  and  you  ought,  for  the  glory  of  God,  to  resist  it 
with  all  your  power." 

In  1229,  the  Council  of  Toulouse,  held  by  Romanus, 
Cardinal  of  St.  Angelo,  and  the  Pope's  legate,  formed  the 
first  courts  of  Inquisition,  and  published  the  first  canon 
which  forbade  the  Scriptures  to  the  laity.  Forty-five 
canons  were  passed  by  this  Council  of  Toulouse  for  the 
extinction  of  heresy,  and  the  very  first  of  them  all 
forbade  the  laity  to  possess  any  of  the  books  of  the  Old 
or  New  Testaments  except,  perhaps,  the  Psalter.  Having 
any  of  these  translated  into  the  vulgar  tongue  was 
strictly  forbidden.  This  same  Council  established  the 
Inquisition  by  the  decree  which  erected  in  every  city  a 
Council  of  Inquisitors,  and  thus  the  papal  condemnation 


12  FIFTEENTH    CENTURY    BIBLES. 

of  the  Bible  is  forever  associated  with  the  most  infamous 
judicial  horror  which  has  disgraced  humanity. 

The  canon  prohibiting  the  Scriptures  is  in  the 
following  terms : — 

Prohibemus  etiam^  ne  libros  Veteris  Testamenti 
aut  Laid  permittantur  habere :  nisi  forte  Psal- 
ierium,  vel  breviariuni  pro  divinis  officis,  aut 
Horas  Beatce  Maria,  aliquis  ex  devotione  habere 
velit,  sed  ne  prcemissos  libros  habeant  in  vulgari 
translates,  arctissime   inhibemus. 

"  We  also  forbid  the  laity  to  possess  any  of  the 
books  of  the  Old  or  New  Testaments,  except  perhaps 
some  one  out  of  devotion  wishes  to  have  the  Psalter  or 
Breviary  for  the  divine  offices,  or  the  Hours  of  the 
Blessed  Virgin.  But  we  strictly  forbid  them  having 
any  of  these  books  translated  into  the  vulgar  tongue."* 

In  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  century,  lightnings 
flashed  from  Gutenberg's  printing-press  in  Mentz. 
Thunders  soon  followed  from  the  palaces  of  priests. 
Though  at  first  welcoming  the  new  and  wonderful  art  as 
an  aid  and  ally,  they  soon  discovered  its  real  significance 
and  power.  Berthold,  Archbishop  of  Mentz,  in  i486, 
issued  an  edict  forbidding  the  printing  of  any  religious 
book  in  German  without  permission  from  ecclesiastical 

*  See  Labbei,  Sacro-Sancta  Concilia^  tome  ii.,  pt.  i.,  p.  430. 


A    STUDY    IN    BIBLIOGRAPHY.  I3 

authority.  Before  the  date  of  this  edict,  there  were  laws 
in  regard  to  the  censorship  of  books  and  instances  of 
books  printed  by  permission.  But  the  oldest  mandate, 
appointing  a  Book-censor^  with  which  we  are  acquainted, 
is  that  issued  by  Berthold,  Archbishop  of  Mentz,  in  the 
year  i486,  which  the  curious  reader  will  not  be  displeased 
to  see  at  full  length,  in  an  English  version,  with  the 
Instructions  given  to  the  censors  : — 

Penal  Mandate,  forbidding  the  Translation  into 
the  Vulgar  Tongue,  etc.,  of  Greek,  Latin,  and 
other  Books,  without  the  previous  approbation  of 
the  doctors,  etc. 

"  BERTHOLD,  by  the  grace  of  God,  Archbishop  of  the 
Holy  See  of  Mentz,  arch-chancellor  of  Germany, 
and  electoral  Prince  of  the  Holy  Roman  Empire." 
"Although,  by  a  certain  divine  art  of  printing, 
abundant  and  easy  access  is  obtained  to  books  on  every 
science  necessary  to  the  attainment  of  human  learning; 
yet  we  have  perceived  that  certain  men,  led  by  the 
desire  of  vain-glory,  or  money,  do  abuse  this  art ;  and 
that  what  was  given  for  the  instruction  of  human  life  is 
perverted  to  purposes  of  mischief  and  calumny.  For,  to 
the  dishonoring  of  religion,  we  have  seen  in  the  hands 
of  the  vulgar  certain  books  of  the  divine  offices,  and 
writings  of  our  religion,  translated  from  the  Latin  into 
the  German  tongue.  And  what  shall  we  -say  of  the 
sacred  laws  and  canons,  which,  though  they  have  been 
written  in  the  most  suitable  and  careful  manner  by  men 


14  FIFTEENTH    CENTURY    BIBLES. 

acquainted  with  law,  and  endowed  with  the  greatest  skill 
and  eloquence,  yet  the  science  itself  is  so  intricate,  that 
the  utmost  extent  of  the  life  of  the  wisest  and  most 
eloquent  man  is  scarcely  equal  to  it  ?  Some  volumes  on 
this  subject  certain  rash  and  unlearned  simpletons  have 
dared  to  translate  into  the  vulgar  tongue,  whose  trans- 
lation, many  persons  who  have  seen  it,  and  those,  too, 
learned  men,  have  declared  to  be  unintelligible,  in 
consequence  of  the  very  great  misapplication  and  abuse 
of  words.  Or,  what  is  to  be  said  of  works  on  the  other 
sciences,  with  which  they  sometimes  even  intermingle 
things  that  are  false ;  and  which,  in  order  the  more 
readily  to  find  purchasers  for  them,  '  they  inscribe  with 
false  titles,  and  attribute  to  notable  authors  what  are 
merely  their  own  productions  ? '  " 

"  Let  such  translators,  whether  they  do  this  with  a 
good  or  with  a  bad  intention,  let  them,  if  they  pay  any 
regard  to  truth,  say  whether  the  German  tongue  be 
capable  of  expressing  that  which  excellent  writers,  both 
Greek  and  Latin,  have  most  accurately  and  argumenta- 
tively  written  on  the  sublime  speculations  of  the  Christian 
religion,  and  on  the  knowledge  of  things.  They  must 
acknowledge  that  the  poverty  of  our  idiom  renders  it 
insufficient;  and  that  it  will  be  necessary  for  them  to 
invent,  from  their  own  minds,  new  terms  for  things;  or 
that,  supposing  them  to  make  use  only  of  the  old  ones, 
they  must  corrupt  the  sense  of  the  truth,  which,  from  the 
greatness  of  the  danger  attendant  upon  it,  in  the  sacred 
writings,  we  greatly  dread ;   for  who  would  leave  it  to 


A    STUDY    IN    BIBLIOGRAPHY.  I5 

ignorant  and  unlearned  men,  and  to  the  female  sex, 
into  whose  hands  copies  of  the  Scriptures  may  have 
fallen,  to  find  out  the  true  meaning  of  them  ?  For 
instance,  let  the  text  of  the  Holy  Gospels,  or  of  St.  Paul's 
Epistles,  be  examined,  and  no  one  of  any  knowledge  will 
deny  that  there  is  a  necessity  for  many  things  to  be 
supplied,  or  understood,  from  other  writings." 

"  These  things  have  occurred  to  our  minds,  because 
they  are  the  most  common.  But,  what  shall  we  think  of 
those  which  are  pending  in  very  sharp  disputes  among 
writers  in  the  Catholic  Church  ?  Many  other  instances 
might  be  brought  forward,  but  it  is  sufficient  for  our 
purpose  to  have  named  a  few." 

"  But,  since  the  beginning  of  this  art  arose  divinely  (to 
give  it  its  proper  appellation)  in  this  our  golden  city  of 
Mentz,  and  continues  in  it  to  this  day  in  its  most 
improved  and  perfect  state,  it  is  with  the  greatest  justice 
that  we  defend  the  glory  of  the  art,  and  it  becomes  our 
duty  to  preserve  the  unspotted  purity  of  the  divine 
writings.  Wherefore,  with  a  view  of  meeting  and 
restraining,  as  with  a  bridle,  the  aforesaid  errors,  and  the 
daring  attempts  of  shameless  or  wicked  men,  as  far  as 
we  are  able  by  the  will  of  God,  whose  cause  is  in 
question  : — we  do,  by  strictly  charging  the  observance 
of  these  presents,  command  all  and  every  the  ecclesi- 
astical and  secular  persons  subject  to  our  jurisdiction,  or 
transacting  business  within  its  limits,  of  whatever 
degree,  order,  profession,  dignity,  or  condition  they  may 
be,  that  they  translate  no  works  on  any  science,  art,  or 


l6  FIFTEENTH    CENTURY    BIBLES. 

knowledge,  whatsoever,  from  the  Greek,  Latin,  or  other 
language,  into  the  vulgar  German  ;  nor,  when  translated, 
either  dispose  of,  or  obtain  copies,  publicly  or  privately, 
directly  or  indirectly,  by  any  kind  of  barter,  unless 
before  their  impression  they  shall  have  been  admitted, 
by  patent,  to  be  sold,  by  the  most  noble  and  honourable 
our  beloved  Doctors  and  Masters  of  the  University  in 
our  City  of  Mentz,  John  Bertram  de  Nuremberg, 
in  Theology ;  Alexander  Diethrich,  in  Law ;  Theo- 
DORic  DE  Meschede,  in  Medicine;  and  Alexander 
Eler,  in  Arts ; — the  Doctors  and  Masters  deputed  for 
this  purpose  in  the  University  of  our  City  of  Erfurt ;  or 
if  in  the  town  of  Frankfurt,  the  books  exposed  for  sale 
shall  have  been  seen  and  approved  by  an  honourable, 
devout,  and  beloved  master  in  theology,  belonging  to 
the  place,  and  one  or  two  Doctors  and  Licentiates, 
annually  paid  for  that  purpose  by  the  Governor  of  the 
said  town.  And  whoever  shall  treat  with  contempt  this 
our  provision,  or  shall  lend  his  counsel,  assistance,  or 
favor,  in  any  way,  directly  or  indirectly,  in  opposition  to 
this  our  mandate,  let  him  know  that  he  has  by  so  doing 
incurred  the  sentence  of  excommunication  ;  and  besides 
the  loss  of  books  exposed  for  sale,  a  penalty  of  one 
hundred  florins  of  gold,  to  be  paid  into  our  treasury; 
from  which  sentence  none  may  absolve  him  without 
special  authority." 

"  Given  at  the  chancery  of  St.  Martin,  in  our  City  of 
Mentz,  under  our  seal,  on  the  Fourth  day  of  the  month 
January,  MCCCCLXXXVL" 


A    STUDY    IN    BIBLIOGRAPHY.  l^ 

The  following  are  the  ''^Instructions "  issued  to  the 
Censors,  and  accompanying  this  Mandate : — 

*'  BERTHOLD,  etc.,  to  the  honourable,  most   learned, 

and  beloved   in  Christ,  Jo.  Bertram,  doctor  in 

Theology ;    Al.  Diethrich,  doctor  in  Law  j   Th, 

DE  Meschede,  doctor  in  Medicine;  and  Al.  Eler, 

master  of  Arts ; — Health,   and  attention   to  the 

things  underwritten." 

"  Having   found    out   several   scandals    and    frauds, 

committed  by  certain  translators  of  literary  works  and 

printers  of  Books,  and  wishing  to  counteract  them,  and 

according   to   our    power   to   block   up   their   way,   we 

command  that   no   one    in   our   diocess,   or  under   our 

jurisdiction,    translate    any    books    into    the    German 

tongue,  or  print,  or  sell  them  when  printed,  unless,  in 

our  City  of  Mentz,    such   works    or   books   have   first, 

according  to  the  form  of  the  mandate  above  published, 

been  by  you  seen,  and  as  to  their  matter  approved  of, 

both  for  translation  and  for  sale." 

"  We  do,  therefore,  by  the  tenor  of  these  presents, 
(having  great  confidence  in  your  prudence  and  circum- 
spection), charge  you,  that  if  at  any  time,  any  works,  or 
Books,  intended  to  be  translated,  printed,  or  sold,  be 
brought  to  you,  you  shall  weigh  their  matter,  and,  if  they 
cannot  be  easily  translated  according  to  the  true  sense, 
but  would  rather  beget  errors  and  offences,  or  be 
injurious  to  modesty,  you  shall  reject  them ;  and 
whatever  Books  you  shall  judge  worthy  to  be  allowed. 


l8  FIFTEENTH    CENTURY    BIBLES. 

two  of  you,  at  least,  shall  sign  them  at  the  end,  with 
your  own  hand,  in  order  that  it  may  more  readily  appear 
what  Books  have  been  seen  and  allowed  by  you.  In  so 
doing  you  will  perform  an  office  pleasing  to  our  God, 
and  useful  to  the  state." 

"  Given  at  the  chancery  of  St.  Martin,  under  our 
privy  seal,  the  Tenth  of  January,  MCCCCLXXXVI."  * 

What  the  Council  of  Trent  did  in  the  middle  of  the 
sixteenth  century  to  prevent  the  knowledge  of  the  Bible 
is  too  well  known  to  repeat  at  length.  Its  prohibitions 
were  as  humorous  as  numerous.  Pious  scholars  were  not 
allowed  to  read  versions  of  the  Old  Testament  made  by 
heretics  unless  they  obtained  permission  of  the  Bishop. 
No  scholar,  however  pious,  was  allowed  to  read  such 
versions  of  the  New  Testament.  As  vernacular  versions 
were  not  made  and  multiplied  except  by  heretics,  of 
course  all  this  was  meant  to  be  prohibitory. 

William  Tyndale,  after  years  of  secret  translating  and 
printing,  was  caught  in  Antwerp,  strangled  and  burned 
in  the  prison  yard  of  the  castle  of  Vilvorden,  October 
6th,  1536.  His  New  Testaments  were  burned  in  the 
public  squares  of  Antwerp  and  London. 

John  Rogers  edited,  revised  and  prepared  for  the 
press  the  folio  Bible  known  as  Matthew's  Bible,  1537. 
He  was  burned  alive  at  Smithfield  in  the  presence  of  his 
wife   and  eleven  children  —  Queen    Mary's  first  victim. 

*  See  Beckmann's  Hist,  of  Inventions^  vol.  iiii.,  pp.  108-113,  for  the  Latin; 
where,  also,  reference  is  given  to  Guden's  Codex  Diplomaticus,  tome  vi. 


A   STUDY    IN    BIBLIOGRAPHY.  I9 

Nothing  less  than  a  translator  or  editor  of  the  Bible  was 
worthy  of  such  glory,  honor  and  immortality. 

Thirty  years  after  the  invention  of  printing,  the 
Inquisition  was  in  completely  successful  operation  in 
Spain.  Of  342,000  persons  punished  by  it  in  that  country 
32,000  were  burned  alive.  It  was  the  Bible  which 
brought  them  to  the  flames  of  martyrdom.  Equally 
terrible  was  this  engine  of  destruction  in  Italy,  both 
at  the  north  and  south.  Archbishops,  aided  by  the 
Inquisition,  were  consuming  fires  for  both  Bibles  and 
their  readers.  Nero  made  some  Christians  shine  as 
lights  in  the  world  by  setting  them  on  fire,  sewed  up 
in  sacks,  covered  with  pitch,  using  them  as  candles  to 
illuminate  the  scene  of  his  debaucheries.  But  the  streets 
of  European  cities  blazed  with  Bible  bonfires.  Bibles 
were  not  like  readers  who  could  be  impoverished, 
stripped,  tortured,  mutilated  and  cast  out.  Even  a  leaf 
surviving  might  pierce  the  blackness  of  this  darkness 
like  a  star.  Just  as  to  the  Western  frontier  men  there 
were  no  good  Indians  but  dead  Indians,  so  to  terrified 
ecclesiastics  there  were  no  good  Bibles  but  burnt  Bibles. 
These  holy  fires  had  been  far  more  frequent  and  brilliant 
but  for  the  lack  of  fuel.  In  many  places  there  were  no 
Bible  bonfires  merely  because  authority  was  so  vigilant 
that  there  were  no  Bibles  to  burn.  Bibles  were  preserved 
by  being  carried  away  by  exiles,  or  by  being  concealed 
like  precious  stones  and  metals  in  times  of  distress  and 
danger. 

This  fury  was  not  local  and   political,  peculiar  to 


20  FIFTEENTH    CENTURY    BIBLES. 

some  place  or  nation.  Robert  Stephens,  the  prince  of 
French  printers,  though  shielded  by  King  Francis, 
could  not  escape  prosecution,  ruin  and  exile  for  his 
Bibles  of  1545  and  1549.  Generations  later,  even  in 
France,  the  Bible  fared  no  better.  Pasquier  Quesnel's 
edition  of  the  French  New  Testament,  1693-4,  in  4  vols., 
8vo.,  including  "  Moral  Reflections  on  the  Gospels,  Acts 
of  the  Apostles,  and  the  Epistles,"  was  anathematized 
by  Pope  Clement  XI.,  17 13.  His  famous  bull,  Uni- 
genitus,  is  the  indelible  record  of  Rome's  hostility  to  the 
circulation  of  the  Scriptures.  Forty  French  Bishops 
accepted  this  bull,  which  denounced  the  idea  that  all 
should  read  the  Bible,  or  that  Christians  should  be 
allowed  to  read  it  on  the  Sabbath  Day. 

Does  any  one  fancy  that  this  warfare  with  the  Bible 
ended  with  the  eighteenth  century.''  He  should  know 
of  Matamoras,  Marin,  Carasco,  Gonzalez  and  other 
blameless  young  men,  who,  but  a  few  years  ago, 
languished  in  Spanish  prisons  until  released  by  the 
indignant  intercession  of  the  Bible-reading  world. 
George  Borrow  was  one  of  the  most  remarkable  English- 
men of  this  generation.  Singularly  gifted  with  physical, 
mental  and  personal  characteristics  for  the  work,  he 
spent  five  years  in  Spain,  endeavoring  to  circulate  the 
Scriptures,  as  he  says,  "  in  spite  of  the  opposition  and  the 
furious  cry  of  the  sanguinary  priesthood  and  the  edicts 
of  a  deceitful  government.  Throughout  my  residence 
in  Spain  the  clergy  were  the  party  from  which  I 
experienced  the  strongest  opposition,  and  it  was  at  their 


A    STUDY    IN    BIBLIOGRAPHY.  21 

instigation  that  the  government  originally  adopted  those 
measures  which  prevented  any  extensive  circulation  of 
the  volume  through  the  land."  Within  a  few  months 
Spanish  secular  newspapers  have  entreated  priests  and 
people  not  to  maltreat  and  mob  the  Bible  colporteur,  as 
the  accounts  of  his  sufferings  printed  in  foreign  journals 
are  commented  upon  as  though  he  were  exposed  to  all 
the  dangers  of  the  missionary  among  savage  tribes. 

Within  our  recollection,  English  travelers  have  been 
arrested  and  imprisoned  because  single  copies  of  Italian 
Bibles  were  found  in  their  portmanteaus  when  entering 
the  Roman  States.  Many  who  read  this  will  remember 
that  before  the  days  of  Victor  Emmanuel,  they  found  it 
wise  to  conceal  their  copies  of  Italian  Testaments  when 
traveling  in  Italy,  in  order  to  avoid  detention  and  an 
appeal  to  the  help  of  their  government. 

How  does  the  record  of  the  Greek  Church  compare 
with  that  of  the  Roman,  in  respect  to  the  Bible  ?  It  is 
better,  but  at  the  best  it  is  a  record  of  mere  toleration. 
Neither  of  these  historic  churches  has  ceased  to  dread 
the  Bible.  Its  supremacy  in  the  world  of  printed 
thought  has  been  attained  in  the  face  of  a  religious 
hatred  deeper  and  deadlier  than  that  of  infidels  and 
atheists. 

Literature  and  printing  have  furnished  no  book  which 
remotely  resembles  the  Bible  in  its  career  of  conflict  and 
triumph;  in  its  universal  translation,  distribution  and 
domination.  Its  linguistic  influence  on  the  leading 
languages    of    civilization   is  without   a    parallel.      Its 


22 


FIFTEENTH    CENTURY   BIBLES. 


authority  in  morals  and  religion  among  enlightened 
nations  has  no  rival.  It  is  the  most  powerful  ray  which 
penetrates  the  darkness  of  this  sinful  and  suffering 
world. 


CHAPTER  III. 


•*- 


(Mlanufcripte* 


BOOKS  were  written,  multiplied  and  circulated 
during  many  centuries  before  the  invention  of 
printing.  Wiclif  translated  the  Bible  into  Eng- 
lish and  multiplied  manuscript  copies  nearly  one  hundred 
years  before  Gutenberg  printed  his  Bible  in  Latin. 
Many  manuscript  copies  were  made  at  one  time  as  the 
transcribers  took  the  words  from  the  lips  of  a  reader. 
Notwithstanding  the  Papal  war  of  extermination  which 
followed  this  effort  to  give  the  Bible  to  the  people,  a 
large  number  of  these  manuscripts  have  survived. 

Any  one  familiar  with  Mediaeval  writing  cannot  fail 
to  observe  how  much  the  first  printed  book  resembles 
the  best  ancient  manuscripts.  It  has  been  said  that  this 
was  designed  for  the  purpose  of  deceiving  buyers,  who 
would  pay  the  price  of  a  manuscript  for  what  had  been 


24  FIFTEENTH   CENTURY    BIBLES. 

produced  by  the  secret  art.  There  is  no  proof  of  this, 
however,  and  the  resemblance  to  manuscript  is  sufficiently- 
accounted  for  by  the  fact  that  the  type-maker  had  no 
other  letters  to  copy.  It  cannot  be  denied  that  there 
was  great  temptation  to  deceive,  for  a  printed  Bible  sold 
at  60  crowns,  if  equally  well  done  in  manuscript,  would 
have  cost  500  crowns. 

Manuscripts  were  the  employment,  enjoyment  and 
glory  of  the  monasteries.  Those  monks  who  were 
specially  qualified  by  learning  and  skill  were  appointed 
to  work  in  the  scriJ>torm?n  or  domus  antiquariorum.  In 
Birch  and  Jenner's  work  on  "  Early  Drawings  and 
Illuminations  in  the  British  Museum,"  there  is  an 
account  of  their  labors.  The  antiquarii  prepared  copies 
of  old  and  valuble  manuscripts.  The  librarii  transcribed 
more  modern  works.  Here  the  art  of  illumination  was 
developed  and  carried  to  perfection,  in  painting  mini- 
atures, initials  and  borders  to  decorate  the  pages  of 
written  text.  Illumination  was  most  richly  bestowed  on 
service  books  for  use  in  the  church  by  ecclesiastics  and 
the  more  wealthy  private  worshippers.  These  books  are 
chiefly  Missals,  Psalters,  and  Books  of  Hours. 

The  Missal  is  a  volume  which  includes  the  services 
relating  to  the  Eucharist,  or  the  celebration  of  Mass, 
namely  : 

I.  The  Sacra??ientary,  containing  the  Collects,  Pre- 
faces, and  Canon  of  the  Mass,  with  occasionally  some 
other  Services,  such  as  that  of  Baptism,  etc.  2.  The 
Lectionary,  containing  the  Epistles  and  Gospels,  which 


A    STUDY    IN    BIBLIOGRAPHY.  25 

are  sometimes  found  in  separate  books,  the  Epistle 
book  being  then  often  called  the  Lectionary.  3.  The 
Evangeliary,  ( Evangelarium ),  containing  the  Gospels 
arranged  for  various  days ;  or,  the  Evangelia,  containing 
the  four  Gospels  in  their  usual  order;  generally  having 
a  portrait  of  the  Evangelist  attached  to  each  Gospel. 
4.  The  Gradual,  containing  the  Introits,  Graduals,  (/.  e., 
Psalms  and  Antiphons  preceding  the  Gospels),  Offertories, 
Communions,  etc.,  set  to  music.  This  is  still  used  as  a 
choir  book.  It  is  to  the  Missal  what  the  Antiphonary  is 
to  the  Breviary,  and  resembles  the  latter  in  size  and 
ornament.  But  in  later  times  the  Missal  became  the 
only  book  absolutely  necessary  for  the  celebration  of 
Mass. 

The  Psalter  illuminated  was  largely  used  before  the 
fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries.  When  complete 
Breviaries  became  the  rule,  these  were  in  a  great 
measure  superseded,  their  contents  being  included  in 
the  Breviaries.  The  Breviary  itself  is  nothing  more 
than  the  form  of  recitation  of  the  Psalter  distributed 
throughout  the  one  nocturnal  and  seven  daily  Services 
arranged  for  the  seven  days  of  the  week,  with  accom- 
panying lessons,  hymns,  collects,  antiphons,  etc.,  for  the 
most  part  varying  with  the  season. 

The  Book  of  Hours,  Horce  Beaice  Mar  ice  Virginis, 
"  Prymer,"  or  by  whatever  other  title  it  may  be  known, 
contains  chiefly  the  "Office  of  our  Lady,"  from  the 
Breviary;  with  the  addition  of  various  prayers  and 
other  material.     The  book  was  intended  for  the  use  of 


26  FIFTEENTH    CENTURY    BIBLES. 

the  laity,  and  was  generally  adorned  with  miniatures 
representing  chiefly  events  in  the  life  of  the  Virgin 
Mary.  Beautiful  specimens  of  all  these  sacred  and 
many  other  manuscript  books  are  to  be  seen  in  many  of 
our  public  and  private  libraries. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

BLOCK  BOOKS,  or,  Books  of  Images,  were  the 
immediate  precursors  of  printing.  Their  origin 
and  date  are  doubtful,  but  they  are  usually 
attributed  to  the  early  part  of  the  fifteenth  century,  and 
to  Germany  or  Holland.  They  consist  of  pictorial 
matter  only  or  mainly.  Where  they  contain  any  text,  it 
is  carved  upon  the  block  and  thus  printed  with  the 
pictures.  This  art  of  printing  from  wooden  blocks  is 
called  Xylography.  It  is  more  closely  related  to  the  art 
of  wood-engraving  than  to  the  art  of  printing.  Both 
these  arts  originate  in  the  seals  used  by  the  Babylonians 
in  the  earliest  ages  of  which  we  possess  historic  records. 
Stamping  designs  in  color  from  engraved  stamps  was 
undoubtedly  Roman  and  Mediaeval  custom.  In  the 
fourteenth  century,  form-schneiders  (model  cutters)  were 


28  FIFTEENTH    CENTURY    BIBLES. 

abundant  in  Germany  who  engraved  on  wood  blocks, 
patterns  to  be  printed  and  then  colored  by  hand.  It  is 
certain  that  playing-cards  were  thus  made,  and  it  is 
probable  also  that  religious  pictures  and  other  pictures 
were  produced  on  this  system  of  pattern-printing  and 
subsequent  coloring. 

For  a  long  time  it  was  supposed  that  the  oldest 
extant  picture  thus  made  was  the  St.  Christopher  of  1423, 
now  in  the  British  Museum.  There  are,  however, 
numerous  pictures,  without  date,  which  may  be  earlier 
products,  and  it  has  never  been  certain  that  the  date 
on  the  St.  Christopher  was  the  date  of  its  manufacture. 
Nor  can  it  be  determined  whether  playing-cards  were 
produced  by  the  form-schneiders'  art  before  religious  or 
other  pictures.  Much  has  been  written  about  it,  but  the 
subject  is  in  reality  of  little  importance,  because  the  art 
which  produced  them  was  not  what  we  know  as  either 
the  art  of  printing  or  the  art  of  wood-engraving.  Printing 
with  movable  types  was  not  invented  until  the  middle 
of  the  fifteenth  century,  when  Gutenberg  produced 
his  Bible  at  Mentz.  Wood-engraving,  which  produces 
complete  finished  pictures  printed  in  ink,  was  not  in 
use  till  in  the  time  of  Albert  Durer  toward  the  end  of 
the  fifteenth  century.  Prior  to  that  time  the  wood  block 
only  impressed  a  pattern,  to  be  colored  by  hand,  and  the 
picture  was  complete  only  when  it  came  from  the  hand 
of  the  painter.  All  block  book  pictures  and  prints  prior 
to  Durer's  time  belong  rather  to  the  painter's  than  the 
engraver's    or    printer's    art.      Durer    invented   wood- 


A    STUDY    IN    BIBLIOGRAPHY.  29 

engraving  as  we  know  it,  the  art  by  which  an  artist  is 
enabled  to  reach  the  public,  with  his  own  thoughts,  in 
his  own  lines,  through  the  printing-press. 

Block  Books  are,  nevertheless,  among  the  most 
precious  treasures  of  bibliography.  But  few  of  these 
xylographic  works  are  known,  and  of  these  the  most 
celebrated  are  the  Biblia  Pauperum  and  the  Speculum 
Salvationis. 

The  Biblia  Pauperum,  or  Bible  of  the  Poor,  consists 
of  forty  plates,  with  extracts  and  sentences  analogous  to 
the  figures  and  images  represented.  The  whole  is 
engraven  on  wood,  and  printed  on  one  side  of  the  leaves 
of  paper.  When  folded,  the  white  side  of  the  leaves  may 
be  pasted  together,  so  that  the  number  is  reduced  to 
twenty.  Copies,  however,  are  found,  the  leaves  of  which 
not  having  been  cemented  on  their  blank  side,  are  forty 
in  number,  like  the  plates.  Each  plate  or  page  contains 
four  busts,  two  at  the  top,  and  two  at  the  bottom, 
together  with  three  historical  subjects;  the  two  upper 
busts  represent  the  prophets  or  other  persons,  whose 
names  are  always  written  beneath  them ;  the  two  lower 
busts  are  anonymous.  The  middle  of  the  plates,  which 
are  all  marked  by  letters  of  the  alphabet  in  the  centre  of 
the  upper  compartment,  is  occupied  by  three  historical 
pictures,  one  of  which  is  taken  from  the  New  Testament. 
This  is  the  type  or  principal  subject,  and  occupies  the 
centre  of  the  page  between  two  anti-types  or  other 
subjects,  which  relate  to  it.     The  inscriptions  at  the  top 


3©  FIFTEENTH    CENTURY    BIBLES. 

and  bottom  of  the  page  consist  of  texts  of  Scripture  and 
Leonine  verses. 

Heinecken,  who  examined  several  copies  of  this  work 
with  minute  attention,  has  discovered  five  different 
editions  of  the  Biblia  Pauperum ;  the  fifth  is  easily 
known,  as  it  has  fifty  plates.  In  executing  the  other 
four  editions,  the  engravers,  he  observes,  have  worked 
with  such  exactness,  that  there  is  very  little  difference 
between  any  of  them,  so  that  it  is  impossible  to  determine 
which  is  the  first. 

Though  this  work  is  called  the  "  Bible  of  the  Poor," 
it  is  not  probable  that  it  had  any  general  circulation 
among  the  masses.  It  is  more  probable  that  it  was  used 
by  the  poor  friars  and  others  who  were  engaged  in 
religious  work. 

The  Speculum  Humance  Salvationist  or  Mirror  of 
Salvation,  is  the  most  perfect  in  design  and  execution 
of  the  Books  of  Images  which  preceded  the  invention  of 
printing.  It  is  a  small  folio,  containing  sixty-three  plates, 
with  accompanying  text.  There  are  two  Latin  editions 
extant,  both  of  extreme  rarity.  It  was  translated  into 
German,  Flemish  and  other  languages.  The  Preface  is 
in  rhyming  Latin  verses  printed  in  long  lines.  The  first 
two  thus  announce  the  title  : 

)Prof|emtum  cujustiam  tnctptt  nobar  tomptla^ 

tionis ; 
Cujus  nomen  et  titulus  est  speculum  l)umanae 

salbattonts* 


A    STUDY    IN    BIBLIOGRAPHY.  31 

The  expository  matter,  at  the  foot  of  the  different 
plates,  is  in  two  columns.  The  first  plate  of  the  earliest 
edition  is  divided  into  two  compartments,  separated  (as 
all  the  other  plates  are)  by  a  small  pillar:  that  on  the 
left  hand  exhibits  the  fall  of  Lucifer  and  his  angels  ;  in 
the  dentre  is  represented  the  Saviour,  denouncing 
vengeance  against  his  rebellious  subjects,  while  the 
angels  who  retained  their  allegiance  are  thrusting  them 
headlong  down  to  hell,  whose  jaws  are  widely  distended 
to  receive  them.  Horror  and  anguish  are  depicted  in 
the  countenances  of  the  fallen  spirits  who  are  delineated 
in  the  most  grotesque  attitudes  imaginable.  Beneath 
this  compartment  is  inscribed  Casus  Luciferi. 

In  the  right  hand  compartment  is  represented  the 
creation  of  Eve,  who  is  springing  out  of  Adam's  side, 
and  is  apparently  receiving  her  instructions  from  the 
lips  of  her  Creator.  The  inscription  beneath  this 
compartment  is,  Dominus  creavit  homines  ad  ijnagines  et 
similitudines  suas.  The  verses  beneath  the  two  columns 
are  illustrative  of  the  general  subject  of  the  work.  They 
are  as  follow : 

Kncipit  <Sp0CttItim  Ijumanar  .Saluacionis, 
Xn   quo  patet  cajsus  tominis  ct  motius 

reparacionis. 
Kn  i^oc  speciilo  potest  t)omo  consttierarc 
(iiuam  oil  causam  creator  omnfutn  trtcrcijit 

l^omtnem  crearr. 


32  FIFTEENTH   CENTURY    BIBLES. 

Soulier  autem  in  patatriso  est  formata, 
Be  costts  btrt  trormtenttsi  est  parata. 

These  remarks  apply  to  what  is  reputed  to  be  the  first 
edition,  the  date  of  which  is  not  known,  but  was  probably 
between  1440  and  1457  :  the  second  Latin  edition  differs 
from  it  only  in  having  the  whole  of  the  explanatory  text 
printed  with  fusile  types,  exactly  resembling  those 
emyloyed  for  part  of  the  letter-press  of  the  first  edition. 
Of  the  translations  into  other  European  languages,  the 
most  celebrated  is  the  Flemish ;  two  editions  of  this  are 
extant,  both  in  folio ;  and  the  second  differs  from  the 
first,  chiefly  in  having  the  explanatory  letter-press  of 
plates  4S  and  46  printed  with  a  smaller  type. 

In  the  Lenox  Library,  there  is  perhaps  the  finest 
collection  of  Block  Books  in  the  world.  Of  the  Biblia 
Fauperum  there  is  a  copy  in  a  remarkably  clean  and 
perfect  condition,  with  the  leaves  unpasted  at  the  backs 
and  the  cuts  uncolored ;  another  copy,  the  first  edition 
in  Italian,  the  only  known  Italian  xylographic  work ;  still 
another,  the  second  edition  in  Italian,  and  two  copies  in 
German.  There  are  also  copies  of  other  equally  rare 
and  celebrated  specimens  of  block  books,  such  as  have 
been  bought  and  sold  for  several  thousand  dollars  each. 

Baron  Heinecken  published  a  work  on  this  subject, 
with  the  title :  "  Id^e  Ginirale  d'une  Collection  complette 
d'EstampeSy  avec  une  Dissertation  sur  VOrigine  de  la 
Gravure,  et  sur  les  premiers  Livres  des  Images.  Leipsic 
et  Vienne,  1771,  8°."     Thomas  Hart  well  Home  gives  an 


A    STUDY    IN    BIBLIOGRAPHY.  33 

abridgment  of  this  work  as  far  as  it  relates  to  Block  Books 
or  Books  of  Images,  in  his  "  Introduction  to  the  Study  of 
Bibliography,"  It  is  an  interesting  fact  that  the  author 
of  that  monumental  work,  "  An  Introduction  to  the 
Critical  Study  and  Knowledge  of  the  Holy  Scriptures," 
which  has  been  an  invaluable  class-book  for  thousands 
of  theological  students  in  Great  Britain  and  America, 
was  also  the  author  of  two  interesting  and  instructive 
volumes  constituting  "  An  Introduction  to  the  Study  of 
Bibliography,  to  which  is  prefixed  a  Memoir  in  the 
Public  Libraries  of  the  Antients,  1814,  2  vols.,  8vo." 


7   ■»   "i""'   «',  tl-JLLJ'    *'    "    ''    "    "  J^ZZ 


1    II    II    II    n    n    II    II    II ■■    ■'    '"^ 


CHAPTER  V. 


THE    FIRST    PRINTED    BOOK. 

THE  FIRST  printed  book,  generally  known  as  The 
Gutenberg  Bible,  was  produced  at  Mentz  by 
Gutenberg,  some  time  between  1450  and  1456. 
It  is  also  known  as  the  Mazarin  Bible,  from  the  fact 
that  a  copy  of  it  was  found  in  the  Library  of  Cardinal 
Mazarin  by  William  Francis  De  Bure  the  younger,  who 
gives  an  account  of  the  discovery  in  his  "  Bibliographic 
Instructive,  tome  i.,  Paris,  1763." 

Like  many  others  of  the  earliest  printed  books,  the 
Gutenberg  Bible  has  no  date,  but  an  inscription  by 
Cremer,  the  illuminator  and  binder  of  the  copy  in  the 
National  Library  at  Paris,  shows  that  it  was  printed 
before  1456. 

This  splendid  production  is  not  only  the  first  printed 
book,  but   it   is  believed   to  be  the  first  specimen   of 


36  FIFTEENTH    CENTURY    BIBLES. 

printing  with  movable  types  extant,  with  the  exception 
of  certain 

aetUrs  of  Kntfttlflence. 

These  letters  are  the  earliest  dated  specimens  of 
printing.  Eighteen  copies  of  these  are  known,  all 
bearing  the  printed  dates  of  1454  or  1455.  Bigmore 
and  Wyman,  in  their  "Bibliography  of  Printing,"  say: 
"  It  is  probable  that  prior  to  1450,  Gutenberg  printed 
several  small  productions,  for,  had  he  been  uniformly 
unsuccessful  all  these  years,  he  could  hardly  have  been 
able  to  borrow  money  from  time  to  time.  He  possibly 
had  to  leave  over,  for  a  more  auspicious  time,  his  pro- 
jects for  printing  a  large  book,  and  to  content  himself 
with  'jobbing-work,'  as  it  would  now  be  called." 

Dr.  Dibdin,  in  his  "  Bibliotheca  Spenceriana,"  gives 
a  transcript  of  one  of  these  Letters  of  Indulgence,  in 
connection  with  historic  details,  referring  to  the  labors 
of  Lambinet  and  Haeberlin.  He  says :  "  In  the  year 
1452  the  Turks  carried  fire  and  sword  into  Epirus,  and 
almost  the  whole  of  Greece.  Cyprus  was  menaced  ;  the 
Pontiff  wrote  to  John  II.  to  fortify  the  walls  of  his 
capital,  Nicosia,  and  to  resist  the  attacks  of  the  Mussul- 
man :  promising  to  defray  the  expenses  attending  this 
measure,  by  the  sums  of  money  which  his  Letters  of 
Indulgence  might  produce.  This  epistle  is  dated  in 
June,  1452.  Pope  Nicolas  V.,  died  at  Rome  in  March, 
1455."  To  one  of  the  copies  of  these  earliest  surviving 
specimens  of  printing,  is  still  appended  the  original 
Papal  seal. 


A   STUDY    IN   BIBLIOGRAPHY.  37 

As  no  other  book  equals  in  bibliographical  interest, 

we  give  the  following  description  at  length.     The  first 
volume  begins  as  follows  : 

Snctptt  epiCtola  fanctt  iijetonimi  atr 
ijaulinum  prcCiiiterum  Tre  omniijus 
trCutne  f^iitotit  Utiris.  capitultt  pmu. 

[f]  SB^atcr  amttottuff 
tua  mici)i  iitanuf- 
tula  pfetens.  tjetulit 
(i(^  rt  CuauiiKmas 
Iras:  q  a  pn'nctpto 
amicicia^  filre.  pi)a= 
te  iam  tititi :   t  \ittttiu  amicicie  noua 

The  Jirs^  volume  has  324  leaves,  the  second  317 
leaves,  being  641  to  the  whole  work.  In  the  first  nine 
pages  there  are  40  lines  in  a  column  ;  in  the  tenth,  41  ; 
and  in  the  remainder,  42  lines.  The  columns,  two  in 
number  on  each  page,  are  ii:^  inches  in  height;  3f  in 
breadth ;  and  there  is  a  space  of  seven-eighths  of  an 
inch  between  them.  The  type  is  a  large  Gothic  or 
German  character.  The  letter  (i)  is  printed  in  various 
ways :  sometimes  it  has  a  dot  (i),  at  others  a  dash  (t)^ 
and  frequently  a  circumflex  (i).  Masch  {Bibltotheca 
Sacra,  vol.  iii.,  /.  67)  considers  the  latter  to  have  been 
used  when  the  /  was  to  be  pronounced  long ;  but  this  is 
not  borne  out  by  the  instances  which  every  page  can 


38  FIFTEENTH   CENTURY   BIBLES. 

afford.  De  Bure  regards  it  as  the  effect  of  an  imperfection 
in  the  art  of  printing.  There  are  neither  signatures, 
catchwords,  numerals,  nor  running  titles.  The  paper  is 
of  very  firm  and  good  texture,  and  the  water-marks  are 
a  Bull's  Head,  with  a  Star  and  a  Bunch  of  Grapes. 

The  First  Volume  contains  the  Prologues  of  St. 
Jerome,  (8  pages),  the  Pentateuch,  and  the  other  books 
of  the  Old  Testament  as  far  as  the  Psalms.  The  Second 
Volume  begins  with  the  Prologue  of  St.  Jerome  on  the 
books  of  Solomon,  and  contains  the  remaining  books 
of  the  Old  Testament,  and  the  whole  of  the  New 
Testament. 

There  are  two  copies  in  the  National  Library  at  Paris, 
one  upon  vellum,  bound  in  four  volumes,  and  the  other 
upon  paper,  in  two  volumes.  The  latter  copy  has  a 
subscription  in  red  ink  at  the  end  of  each  volume.  That 
at  the  end  of  the  first  volume,  of  which  a  fac-simile  is 
given  in  the  Classical  Journal,  vol.  IV., /.  481,  is  as 
follows : 

2Et  lit  eft  finis  prime  partis  tiitilie 
feu  Deteris  teCtamenti.    Xlluminata 
Cett  rufiricata  et  U'^ata  p  tenricum 
Eltct)  alius  Ctremer  ^nno  trm  mccec 
(t)t  Cefto  iSarttolomet  apU 
Heo  flracias Alleluia. 

TRANSLATION. 
"Here  ends    the   first  part    of  the  Bible   or   Old   Testament. 
Illuminated,  or  rubricated,  and  bound,  by  Hetiry  Albch  or  Cremer, 
on    St.    Barlholomeiv' s   day,    April,    A.    D.   14J6.     Thanks   be   to 
God.     Hallelujah." 


A    STUDY    IN    BIBLIOGRAPHY.  39 

At  the  end  of  the  second  volume  the  subscription  is : 

Kfte  imv  niumCnatUB  ICflatus  tt  tomjjlectus 
eCt  p  Jjenricum  (Bremer,  bicariu  eccleite  coUe= 
QiaU  Canctt  .StepljanC  nraflunttni  Cuii  anno 
trni  tJTiUefimo  quatcinficnteitmo  fluinauaseCmo 
Cepto,  feito  aCTumptionis  filoriofe  bfrflinis 
IHarie.    Heo  <25raciai3»    ^Uclufa. 

TRANSLATION, 

"  TAis  book,  illufninaied  and  bound  by  Henry  Cremer,  vicar  of 
the  collegiate  church  of  St.  Stephen,  at  Mentz,  was  completed  on 
the  feast  of  the  assumption  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary,  A.  D. 
14^6.      Thanks  be  to  God.     Hallelujah." 

In  order  to  produce  this  great  folio  Bible  Gutenberg 
had  exhausted  his  resources,  and  borrowed  from  relatives 
and  friends.  John  Fust,  or  Faust,  twice  lent  him  800 
guilders,  taking  a  mortgage  on  all  his  printing  materials. 
Gutenberg's  splendid  achievement  in  the  new  art  was 
not  a  financial  success.  In  order  to  recover  his  money 
Fust  brought  a  suit  against  the  inventor,  which  resulted 
in  the  removal  of  all  his  printing  materials  to  the  house 
of  Fust,  and  Gutenberg  went  forth  penniless.  He  was 
assisted  by  Dr.  Humery  in  establishing  another  press  in 
the  same  neighborhood,  but  he  did  not  prosper.  In 
1465  he  became  a  pensioner  at  the  court  of  Archbishop 
Adolphus,  and  died  soon  after  in  1468. 

His  invention  has  always  been  a  marvel  in  respect  to 
the  perfection  of  its  beginning.     No  one  looks  at  the 


4©  FIFTEENTH   CENTURY   BIBLES. 

earliest  specimens  of  printing  without  being  astonished 
at  their  clearness  and  beauty.  "  It  is  a  very  striking 
circumstance,"  says  Hallam,"  "  that  the  high-minded 
inventors  of  this  great  art  tried,  at  the  very  outset,  so 
bold  a  flight  as  the  printing  of  an  entire  Bible,  and 
executed  it  with  astonishing  success.  It  was  Minerva 
leaping  on  earth  in  her  divine  strength  and  radiant 
armor,  ready  at  the  moment  of  her  nativity  to  subdue 
and  destroy  her  enemies.  We  may  see  in  imagination 
this  venerable  and  splendid  volume  leading  up  the 
crowded  myriads  of  its  followers,  and  imploring,  as  it 
were,  a  blessing  on  the  new  art,  by  dedicating  its  first 
fruits  to  the  service  of  Heaven." 

Just  what  Gutenberg  accomplished  in  perfecting  the 
art  of  printing,  is  made  plain  by  Mr.  De  Vinne  in  his 
"  Invention  of  Printing,"  when  he  says  that  Gutenberg's 
brass  mould  for  making  types  was  the  key  to  the 
invention : 

"  Gutenberg,  first  of  all,  made  types  in  brass  moulds 
and  matrices.  In  other  words,  it  was  only  through  the 
invention  of  matrices  and  type-mould  in  brass  that 
printing  became  a  great  art.  Considered  from  a 
mechanical  point  of  view,  the  merit  of  Gutenberg's 
invention  may  be  inferred  from  its  permanency.  His 
type-mould  was  not  merely  the  first,  it  is  the  only 
practical  mechanism  in  making  types.  For  more  than 
four  hundred  years  this  mould  has  been  under  critical 
examination,  and  many  attempts  have  been  made  to 
supplant    it.       Contrivances    have    been    invented   for 


A    STUDY    IN    BIBLIOGRAPHY.  4I 

casting  fifty  or  more  types  at  one  operation ;  for  swaging 
types,  like  nails,  out  of  cold  metal;  for  stamping  types 
from  cylindrical  steel  dyes  upon  the  ends  of  thin  copper 
rods,  but  experience  has  shown  that  these  and  like 
inventions  in  the  department  of  type-making  machinery 
are  impracticable.  There  is  no  better  method  than 
Gutenberg's.  Modem  type-casting  machines  have 
moulds  attached  to  them  which  are  more  exact  and 
more  carefully  finished,  and  which  have  many  little 
attachments  of  which  Gutenberg  never  dreamed,  but 
in  principle  and  in  all  the  more  important  features, 
the  modern  moulds  may  be  regarded  as  the  moulds 
of  Gutenberg."  Every  one  who  reads  should  know 
this,  at  least,  of  the  first  printer  and  the  first  printed 
book. 

Besides  the  Letters  of  Indulgence,  the  Bible,  a  few 
pamphlets  and  small  quartos  of  a  few  leaves  each, 
Gutenberg  printed  a  splendid  volume  —  a  folio  of  748 
pages — The  Catholicon.  It  was  written  or  edited  by 
John,  of  Genoa,  a  mendicant  friar,  and  contains  a  Latin 
Grammar  and  Dictionary.  The  colophon  states  that  it 
was  printed  at  Mentz  in  1460,  but  does  not  give  the 
name  of  the  printer,  A  copy  of  the  Catholicon  is  to  be 
seen  in  the  Lenox  Library,  and  also  in  the  Astor 
Library.  Another  remarkably  fine  copy  is  in  the 
library  of  Mr.  Brayton  Ives,  New  York  City.  The 
copy  from  the  Syston  Park  Library,  recently  sold  in 
London  for  $2,000,  is  in  the  Brown  Library,  at  Provi- 
dence, R.  I. 


42  FIFTEENTH    CENTURY    BIBLES. 

Mr.  De  Vinne  says :  "  The  silence  of  Gutenberg 
concerning  his  services  is  remarkable,  all  the  more  so 
when  this  silence  is  contrasted  with  the  silly  chatterings 
of  several  printers  during  the  last  quarter  of  the  fifteenth 
century — of  whom  Peter  Schoeffer  may  be  considered 
as  the  first,  and  Trechsel  of  Lyons  the  last  —  each 
insisting  that  he,  whatever  others  might  have  done 
before  him,  was  the  true  perfecter  of  printing.  There  is 
no  other  instance  in  modern  history,  excepting  possibly 
that  of  Shakespeare,  of  a  man  who  did  so  much  and  who 
said  so  little  about  it." 

There  is  evidence  that  Gutenberg  died  before 
February,  1468.  It  was  believed  that  he  was  buried  in 
the  Church  of  St.  Frances,  at  Mentz.  This  church, 
which  contained  his  tomb,  \yas  destroyed  in  1742.  Ivo 
Wittig,  Chancellor  and  Rector  of  the  University  of 
Mayence,  placed  a  tablet  in  the  court  of  the  house  of 
the  Gensfleisch  family  at  Mayence,  with  the  inscription : 
*'  To  John  Gutenberg,  of  Mayence,  who  first  of  all 
invented  printing-letters  in  brass,  [matrices  and  moulds], 
by  which  art  he  has  deserved  honour  from  the  whole 
world." 

In  1837,  Thorwaldsen's  monument  to  Gutenberg  was 
erected  at  Mayence,  in  one  of  the  public  squares,  called 
Gutenberg  Platz.  Gutenberg  is  represented  as  standing 
with  one  foot  slightly  advanced,  holding  his  Bible 
clasped  to  his  breast  with  one  hand,  while  several 
punches  are  lightly  grasped  in  the  other.  In  a  series  of 
bas-reliefs  upon  the  pedestal  are  seen  the  processes  of 


A    STUDY    IN    BIBLIOGRAPHY.  43 

the  art  in  its  earliest  stages.  The  inscription  states  that 
the  monument  was  erected  by  the  citizens  of  Mayence, 
with  the  assistance  of  the  whole  of  Europe. 

In  1840,  a  statue  of  Gutenberg,  by  the  celebrated 
French  sculptor,  David  d'Angers,  was  erected  in  the 
market-place  of  Strasburg,  called  La  Place  Gutenberg. 
The  figure  stands  erect  holding  forth  a  sheet  with  the 
words  from  Genesis,  "  Et  la  lumiere  fut."  Upon  the 
pedestal  four  bas-reliefs  illustrate  the  dissemination  of 
knowledge  by  means  of  the  printing-press,  and  on  the 
front  various  great  authors  of  Europe  are  grouped  around 
a  printing-press.  A  copy  of  the  David  monument 
stands  in  the  great  court  of  the  Imprimerie  Nationale 
at  Paris. 

There  is  a  monument  to  Gutenberg  in  the  city  of 
Frankfort.  Upon  a  lofty  pedestal  of  fine,  red  sandstone 
stand  three  colossal  figures  in  electro-plated  copper,  the 
central  figure  being  Gutenberg,  with  a  type  in  his  hand, 
while  Schoeffer  stands  on  his  right  and  Fust  on  his 
left.  Four  sitting  figures  on  the  corners  of  the 
pedestal  represent  Theology,  Poetry,  Natural  Science, 
and  Industry.  Upon  the  upper  part  of  the  pedestal, 
medallions  contain  the  heads  of  celebrated  printers. 
"But  why,"  says  Madden,  ** should  we  speak  of  mon- 
uments of  bronze  or  stone  to  commemorate  the 
services  of  Gutenberg.-*  His  monument  is  in  every 
quarter  of  the  world :  more  frail  than  all,  it  is  more 
enduring  than  all  —it  is  the  BOOK  !  " 


44  FIFTEENTH    CENTURY    BIBLES. 

The  following  list  of  known  copies  of  the  Gutenberg 
Bible  was  compiled  by  Dr.  S.  Austin  Allibone  of  the 
Lenox  Library,  New  York,  in  1882  : 

COPIES    ON    VELLUM. 

1.  National  Library,  Paris. 

2.  Royal  Library,  Berlin. 
J.    British  Museum. 

4.  Earl  of  Ashburton  s  Library. 

5.  Leipsic  Library. 

6.  Heifirich  Klernm,  Dresden. 

7.  Library  at  Dresden :   a  fragment  only. 

COPIES   ON    PAPER. 

1.  National  Library,  Paris. 

2.  Mazarin  Library,  Paris. 
J.  Imperial  Library,  Vienna. 
4.  Public  Library,  Treves. 

J.  Bodleian  Library,  Oxford. 

6.  Advocates'  Library,  Edinburgh. 

7.  Geo.  I  11'^'"  Library,  British  Museum. 

8.  Duke  of  Sussex's  Library. 

g.    Duke  of  Devonshire' s  Library. 

10.  Earl  Spencer  s  Library. 

11.  Lenox  Library,  New  York. 


A    STUDY    IN    BIBLIOGRAPHY.  45 

12.  Library  of  John  Fuller. 

ij.  Lloyd's  Library. 

14.  Leipsic  Library. 

i^.  Munich  Library. 

16.  Frankfort  Library. 

ly.  Hanover  Library. 

18.  Emperor  of  Russia's  Library. 

ig.  Library  at  Mentz. 

20.  Huth  Library. 

21.  Library  of  Hamilton  Cole,  New  York,  (now 

in  the  Library  of  Brayton  Ives,  New  York), 

To  this  list  must  be  added  the  Syston  Park  copy 
recently  sold,  and  the  Earl  of  Crawford's  copy,  sold  still 
more  recently,  unless  both  of  these  copies  are  in  the  list 
under  names  that  have  changed  with  ownership  during 
recent  years.  It  is  worthy  of  note  that  there  is  no  record 
of  a  copy  being  in  the  Vatican  Library  at  Rome.  These 
copies  are  not  all  alike  in  size,  or  in  the  style  of  their 
illumination,  or  in  the  number  of  lines  on  all  pages.  It 
appears  that  there  were  two  issues,  one  with  42  lines  on 
all  the  pages,  the  other  with  40  lines  on  the  first  eight 
pages,  41  lines  on  the  ninth  page,  and  the  rest  with  42 
lines.  Other  variations  in  the  number  of  lines  are 
mentioned  by  different  bibliographers. 

The  Lenox  Copy  is  on  paper,  in  two  volumes.  It 
was  formerly  in  the  Library  of  George  Hibbert,  Esq., 
which  was  sold  at  auction  in  London  in  1829,  It  was 
bought   by    Mr.    Wilkes    for   ^^215,    about    $1,075.      ^^ 


46  FIFTEENTH    CENTURY   BIBLES. 

was  sold  again  in  1848,  and  bought  by  Mr.  Lenox  for 
about  $2,500,  This  copy  is  now  worth  as  many 
thousand  dollars  as  it  then  cost  hundreds. 

Until  recently,  the  highest  price  ever  paid  for  a 
printed  book  was  at  the  Henry  Perkins  Library  Sale  in 
London,  1873,  when  a  vellum  copy  of  the  Gutenberg 
Bible  sold  for  ;^3,4oo,  or  about  $16,500.  A  paper 
copy  brought  at  the  same  sale,  ^^2,690.  These  figures 
have  since  been  surpassed  at  the  Syston  Park  Library 
Sale  in  London,  when  a  paper  copy  was  sold  to 
Mr.  Quaritch,  the  bookseller,  for  ;!^3,90o,  or  nearly 
$20,000. 

Unless  the  descriptions  of  this  copy  by  foreign 
correspondents  are  grossly  incorrect,  the  Lenox  copy 
is  much  finer,  and  therefore  much  more  valuable  than 
the  one  recently  sold  for  nearly  $20,000. 

But  the  highest  price  known  to  have  been  paid  for  a 
printed  book  was  given  at  this  Syston  Park  Sale  for  the 
book  which  is  the  subject  of  the  next  chapter. 

The  only  other  copy  of  the  Gutenberg  Bible  in 
America  is  The  Bravton  Ives  Copy.  In  size  and 
condition  it  is  a  splendid  specimen,  not  having  suffered, 
as  other  famous  copies,  at  the  hands  of  the  binders.  Its 
ancient  binding  still  remains  to  show  the  wisdom,  taste 
and  skill  with  which  it  was  first  protected  and  adorned. 
Seventeen  leaves  scattered  through  the  two  volumes  are 
in  facsimile^  but  in  other  respects  this  copy  is  superior 
to  copies  which  have  escaped  this  necessity.  It  is  the 
42   line  issue,  which  is  considered  the  first.     With  its 


A   STUDY    IN    BIBLIOGRAPHY.  47 

unimpaired  margins,  beautiful  print,  perfect  register, 
cleanly  condition,  interesting  binding  and  other  features, 
it  ranks  very  high  among  the  few  specimens  remaining 
of  the  first  printed  book  and  the  first  printed  Bible. 

Mr.  Theodore  Irwin,  of  Oswego,  N.  Y.,  has  a  volume 
of  the  Gutenberg  Bible,  containing  the  Old  Testament 
and  Apocrypha  to  the  end  of  the  Books  of  Maccabees. 
It  is  one  of  the  42  line  copies,  and  has  513  leaves, 
with  only  one  leaf  and  a  portion  of  another  in  fac- 
sittiile.  When  bought,  this  copy  was  in  the  original 
pigskin  binding,  in  oak  boards. 


CHAPTER  VI. 


* 


Z^t  (ttltnt^  ^faUtx.  U57* 


THE  FIRST  BOOK  WITH  DATE — THE  SECOND  PRINTED  BOOK. 


THE  MENTZ  PSALTER,  or,  Psalmorum  Codex, 
being  an  edition  of  the  Psalms  in  Latin,  is  the 
first  book  known  which  contains  the  name  of  its 
printer  together  with  the  name  of  the  place  where  it  was 
printed,  and  the  date  of  its  execution.  It  is  a  folio  of 
175  leaves,  with  initial  letters  in  two  colors.  It  was 
printed  by  Fust  and  Schoffer  at  Mentz,  and  was  finished 
August  14th,  1457,  during  the  brief  period  between  the 
first  and  second  printed  Bibles.  Its  extreme  rarity  has 
given  it  extraordinary  pecuniary  value,  a  very  few  copies 
being  known.  Until  recently,  the  highest  price  ever  paid 
for  a  printed  book  was  given  for  a  copy  of  the  Gutenberg 
Bible,  $16,500,  at  the  Perkins  Sale,  London,  1873. 
This  was  surpassed  at  the  Syston  Park  Sale,  London, 
December,   1884,  when  a  paper  copy  of  the  Gutenberg 


50  FIFTEENTH    CENTURY    BIBLES. 

Bible  was  sold  for  ^{^3,900,  and  a  vellum  copy  of  the 
Mentz  Psalter  was  sold  for  ;^4,95o,  nearly  $25,000. 

After  Gutenberg  had  printed  the  first  Bible,  his 
creditor,  Fust,  obtained  possession  of  all  his  printing 
materials.  Fust  formed  a  partnership  with  Peter 
Schoffer,  who  became  his  son-in-law.  Their  first 
publication  was  the  Mentz  Psalter,  the  first  printed 
book  with  a  complete  date.  This  was  reprinted  with 
the  same  types  in  1459,  1490,  1502  and  1516.  The  copy 
recently  sold  for  nearly  $25,000  is  the  second  edition. 
It  is  entered  in  the  Sale  Catalogue  of  the  Syston  Park 
Library  as  follows : 

"Psalmorum  Codex,  Latine  cum  ffymnis,  Oratione 
Dominica  Symbolis  ei  Notts  musicis.  Printed  on  Vellum, 
very  fine  copy,  with  painted  capitals,  in  red  morocco 
extra,  borders  of  gold,  gilt  edges,  by  Staggemeier,  folio. 
Moguntise,  J.  Fust  et  P.  Schoffer,  1459. 

*'  This  excessively  rare  edition  is  the  second  book 
with  a  date,  and  contains  the  Athanasian  Creed,  printed 
for  the  first  time.  In  rarity  it  nearly  equals  that  printed 
in  1457,  of  which  only  eight  copies  are  known,  and  of 
this  only  ten,  all  printed  on  vellum.  This  copy  sold  for 
3,350  francs  in  the  MacCarthy  Sale,  and  j£,iz(>  10  s.  in 
that  of  Sir  M.  Sykes." 

A  copy  of  this  edition  is  in  the  British  Museum,  and 
also  a  copy  of  the  first  edition,  printed  on  vellum,  which 
is  not  only  the  first  book  printed  with  a  date,  but  the 
first  example  of  printing  in  colors. 

Beautiful  facsimiles  of  pages  of  this  Psalter  are  in 


A    STUDY    IN    BIBLIOGRAPHY.  51 

Dibdin's  "  Bibliotheca  Spenceriana,"  and  in  Humphrey's 
"History  of  Printing,"  and  also  in  the  more  accessible 
volume,  Theodore  L.  De  Vinne's  "  Invention  of 
Printing." 

In  the  Caxton  Exhibition,  London,  1877,  the  1457 
copy  of  this  Psalter  was  lent  by  the  Queen,  and  the  1459 
copy  by  the  Earl  of  Leicester.  No  copy  of  this  book  is 
in  America. 

The  most  perfect  copy  known  is  in  the  Imperial 
Library  of  Vienna.  It  was  discovered  in  the  year  1665, 
near  Innspruck,  in  the  castle  of  Ambras,  where  the  arch- 
duke, Francis  Sigismund,  had  collected  an  immense 
number  of  manuscripts  and  printed  books,  taken  for  the 
most  part  from  the  famous  library  of  Matthias  Corvinus, 
King  of  Hungary.  It  is  a  folio  of  175  leaves,  printed  on 
vellum,  of  which  the  Psalter  occupies  the  first  135  and 
the  recto  of  the  136th.  The  remainder  is  appropriated  to 
the  litany,  prayers,  responses,  vigils,  etc.  The  psalms  are 
executed  in  larger  characters  than  the  hymns,  similar  to 
those  used  for  missals  prior  to  the  invention  of  printing, 
but  all  are  distinguished  for  their  uncommon  blackness. 
The  capital  letters,  288  in  number,  are  cut  on  wood, 
with  a  degree  of  delicacy  and  boldness  which  are  sur- 
prising. The  largest  of  these,  the  initial  letters  of  the 
Psalms,  which  are  black,  red  and  blue,  must  have  passed 
three  times  through  the  press.  A  facsimile  of  the  first 
initial  letter  of  this  splendid  Psalter  is  given  with  a  few 
sentences  of  the  first  psalm,  in  Dibdin's  Bibliotheca 
Spenceriana^  vol.   i.,  p.    107,   colored   exactly   after  the 


52  FIFTEENTH    CENTURY   BIBLES. 

original.  As  it  is  scarcely  possible  that  this  masterpiece 
of  the  typographical  art  could  be  executed  within 
eighteen  months  after  the  dissolution  of  partnership 
between  Gutenberg  and  Fust,  Fournier  and  Meerraan 
conjecture  that  it  was  begun  during  its  continuance, 
though  finished  by  Fust  and  Schoffer. 

This  Mentz  Psalter,  being  second  only  to  the  Gutenberg 
Bible  in  bibliographical  interest,  we  give  the  following 
description : 

The  work  begins  on  the  recto  of  the  first  leaf,  with 
two  musical-scored  lines  at  top.  The  lines  and  the 
notes  are  inserted  in  manuscript  as  well  as  the  words 
"  Venite  exulte,"  etc.  The  text  begins  about  three 
inches  below.  A  full  page,  which  is  7  inches  and  f  in 
breadth,  by  about  ii:^  in  height,  contains  20  lines.  It 
is  not  printed  in  type  of  uniform  size.  The  collects, 
responses,  verses  and  prayers,  are  generally  in  a  smaller 
type.  The  colophon,  which  is  also  printed  in  the  small 
type,  and  with  red  ink,  is  literally  as  follows  : 

Jttns  Cpalmo?^  cotrep.benuftate  capitaliutfecolt^ 
2iuUricationifiut(0  fu^cicnttt  triCtinctus, 
^trfnuftionc  artificofa  impmentri  ac  caractfrij=: 
antfi.  atjfq^  calami  bUa  cparacone  0c  elKfliatus, 
I2t  atr  eutetjiam  trei  lutruftrie  eft  3Cuntmattts, 
per  Joij'em  iFuCt  <ti\xz  maflutmu.  ISt  petru 
Scijofiter  tre  (&txxii\%z'vxi,  ^nno  Jfiii  jttiUcfio. 
cccc.lbij.  Jti  bifiria  ^0tupcUts. 


A   STUDY   IN    BIBLIOGRAPHY.  53 


TRANSLATION. 

**  This  work  of  the  Psalms,  a  book  embellished  with  beautiful 
capitals,  and  sufficiently  distinguished  with  rubric  letters,  was  thus 
formed  by  an  ingenious  invention  of  printing,  with  separate 
characters,  without  any  writing  of  the  pen,  and  carefully  finished 
for  the  worship  of  God,  by  John  Fust,  Citizen  of  Mentz,  and 
Peter  Schoffer,  of  Gemszheim ;  in  the  year  of  the  Lord  one 
thousand  four  hundred  and  fifty-seven.  On  tke  eve  of  the  Assump- 
tion (August  14,)  " 

The  second  edition  of  this  Psalter,  printed  in  1459, 
a  folio,  by  the  same  printers,  varies  in  many  respects 
from  the  preceding.  Though  executed  with  the  same 
types  and  capital  letters,  the  lines  are  longer  in  this 
second  edition,  with  23  on  a  page,  whereas  the  ^rsf 
edition  has  but  20  lines  on  a  page.  According  to 
Heinecken,  who  is  followed  by  Lichtenberger  and  others, 
a  complete  copy  contains  163  leaves;  but  Wurdtwein, 
who  appears  to  have  examined  it  with  more  minuteness, 
states  it  to  consist  of  only  136.  Dibdin  conjectures  the 
difference  to  have  been  caused  by  the  figures  being 
transposed  by  Heinecken's  printer. 

The  text  begins  at  the  top  of  the  page  with  the 
following  words : 

Mtatnu  t)tr  qui  no  attjt  in  toUlio  tmpto^. 


54  FIFTEENTH   CENTURY   BIBLES. 

The  colophon,  which  we  transcribe  verbatim  et 
literatim^  is  on  the  reverse  of  fol.  151,  and  is  printed  in 
red  ink : 

^^  ^ccotatus.  tutricationiHufq?  fuCKcirntet 
trittinctus.  aTr  inurncone  attificiofa  fmprimentii 
ac  caractetif antri :  aijft^  uUa  calami  tparacone 
Itc  elKfiCatus.  et  ati  lautrem  trei  ac  l)onorf  (ancti 
JJacotJi  rCt  3Cuatt>.  ^tr  JloJj'em  ifuft  cibf  tnaflu= 
tfnu.  ct  4|ctru  Sci)oifi)ct  tre  <Sfrrn(ri)0im  clrticii 
^itno  true  fW^illeitmo  cccc.  Up.  jrpip  Iiu  menfts 

^UflUCtt.     [Mentz.]  1459-  >^- 


CHAPTER  VII. 


Z^t  Qgrtw6«5  (giMt,  (w6o!) 

THE    SECOND    PRINTED    BIBLE. 

THE  SECOND  BIBLE  is  generally  known  as 
T/ie  Bamberg  Bible,  from  the  place  where  it  is 
believed  to  have  been  printed ;  or  the  Pfister 
Bible^  from  the  name  of  its  supposed  printer;  or  the 
Bible  of  Thirty-six  Lines,  from  the  number  of  lines  on  a 
page.  Like  other  printed  books  of  this  period,  it  has  no 
title-page  or  date.  In  the  Catalogue  of  the  Caxton 
Exhibition  the  copy  of  this  Bible,  lent  by  Earl  Spencer, 
is  entered  as  follows  : 

"Bible  (Second  Latin).  Gothic  Letter.  (Bamberg: 
Albert  Pfister,  1460.?).  Folio:  15!  by  11  inches. 
Without  title,  pagination  or  signatures.  882  leaves; 
printed  in  double  columns,  2>^  lines  to  a  full  column.  A 
copy  in  the  Paris  Library  has  the  rubrication  dated  1461, 
proving  that  this  Bible  was  printed  prior  to  that  date. 


5^  FIFTEENTH    CENTURY   BIBLES. 

But  the  cover  of  the  Church  Register  of  Bamberg  being 
composed  partly  of  waste  leaves  of  this  Bible,  and  the 
Register  beginning  with  21  March,  1460,  it  follows  that 
these  leaves  were  printed  prior  to  this  latter  date." 

Albert  Pfister  is  believed  to  have  been  a  workman  of 
Gutenberg,  who  established  a  press  at  Bamberg,  near 
which  city  nearly  all  the  copies  of  this  Bible  were 
found. 

Mr.  De  Vinne,  in  his  work  on  the  "  Invention  of 
Printing,"  gives  at  length  the  reasons  for  the  opinion  that 
this  Bible  is  not  the  work  of  Pfister,  but  one  of  the 
earlier  works  of  Gutenberg,  and  therefore  not  the  second 
Bible,  but  the  first.  He  says :  "  In  nearly  all  the  popular 
treatises  on  printing  the  Bible  of  Forty-two  Lines  is 
specified  as  the  first  book  of  Gutenberg,  but  it  is  the 
belief  of  many  of  the  most  learned  bibliographers,  from 
Zapf  to  Didot  and  Madden,  that  the  Bible  of  thirty-six 
lines  is  the  older  edition."  Mr.  Hawkins  favors  this 
view,  saying:  "  It  seems  to  me  that  this  Bible  must  have 
been  produced  by  the  same  set  of  workmen  who  printed 
the  Gutenberg  Bible;  many  points  of  resemblance  in 
each  edition  lead  to  this  conclusion.  I  am  not  of  those 
who  believe  that  the  Gutenberg  Bible  was  the  result  of  a 
first  experiment.  Years  of  patient  labor  must  have  been 
spent  and  many  vexatious  failures  and  partial  successes 
experienced  before  this  splendid  work  was  produced. 
Might  not  the  Bible  of  thirty-six  lines  have  been  pro- 
duced by  Gutenberg  during  these  years  of  experiment  ? 
I  do  not  assert  this,  but  merely  suggest  its  probability. 


A    STUDY    IN    BIBLIOGRAPHY.  57 

At  all  events,  I  venture  the  assertion  that  there  is  no 
convincing  evidence  that  it  was  printed  by  Pfister  at 
Bamberg  or  elsewhere," 

Notwithstanding  these  well-considered  views  of 
American  students  of  early  printing,  we  are  compelled 
to  record  this  Bible  of  thirty-six  lines  as  the  second,  as 
there  is  as  yet  no  evidence  that  it  was  printed  before 
1455,  the  latest  date  assigned  to  the  Gutenberg  Bible. 
Of  Pfister  nothing  is  known  but  his  name  and  a  few 
books  and  pamphlets  attributed  to  him.  His  earliest 
dated  book  is  the  Book  of  JFables,  1461.  Mr.  De  Vinne 
says  that  the  profusion  of  wood-cuts  in  this  and  his 
other  books  indicates  that  he  was  an  engraver  on  wood. 
He  thinks  that  he  bought  an  old  font  of  type  to  use  in 
printing  the  explanations  of  these  pictures.  His  Book  of 
Four  Stones,  with  his  imprint,  Bamberg,  1462,  is  printed 
with  the  types  of  the  Bible  of  Thirty-six  Lines,  and  this 
gave  the  impression  that  he  printed  this  Bible  also. 
Sebastian  Pfister,  supposed  to  be  his  son,  had  a  printing 
office  at  Bamberg  in  1470.  Although  next  to  nothing  is 
known  of  Albert  Pfister,  his  name  has  been  used  as  a 
rival  to  that  of  Gutenberg  for  the  honor  of  the  invention 
of  the  art  of  printing. 

We  give  the  following  descriptive  points  which  are 
sufficient  to  enable  any  one  to  identify  a  copy  of  this  one 
of  the  earliest  printed  books  : 

iitOIta  Sacra Hattna.  [Bamberg:  Albert  Pfister, 
1460 .''  ]     Gothic  letter,  3  vols.,  folio. 


58  FIFTEENTH    CENTURY    BIBLES, 

The  work  commences  on  the  recto  of  the  first  leaf, 
at  the  top  of  the  first  column,  which  begins  five  lines 
below  the  top  of  the  second,  thus  — 

[f]  Batec  ant' 
firoCius  mi= 
ciji  tua  mtmuCcula  perfereus  tre= 
tulit  Cimul.  rt  CuauiHi^mas  Htte= 
van :  que  a  principio  amicicia^ 
Watm  iam  ptjate  U^ti  ct  betects 
amtctcte  noua  ptefercliant.  Wit- 


The  first  chapter  of  Genesis  begins  at  the  top  of  the 
first  column,  on  the  reverse  of  fol.  VI.,  as  follows^ — 

[in]  principio  creauit  treus  crlii  t 
trtram.  Ktvva  aut  erat  inanis 
et  uacu:  et  tendbre  erat  (up  (a= 
ciem  alJiflt:  et  Cptrtt^  tftii  (tretas 
tur  aqas. 

The   first   volume    ends  at  the  bottom   of  the  first 
column  of  the  last  leaf,  thus  — 

tefle  per  tCngulos  tries  omnifi') 
tfietus  uite  fue. 

The  second  volume  begins  with  St.  Jerome's  Prologue 
to  the  Books  of  Chronicles ;    and  ends  with  Maccabees 


A    STUDY    IN    BIBLIOGRAPHY.  59 

at  the  bottom  of  the  last  column,  on  the  recto   of  the 

last  leaf. 

The  third  volume  begins  with  St.  Jerome's  Letter  to 

Pope  Damasus  concerning  the  Four  Gospels.     The  first 

five  lines  are  indented,  to  make  room  for  the  letter  B. 

It  ends  on   the  reverse  of  the  last  leaf,  at  top  of  the 

second  column,  with  : 

23icit,  5  ttttU 
tnontntn  prrtiftet  iCtorum  lEti= 
am.  33enio  cito  amen.  Witni  ^o= 
mine  if)tin,  CSfracia  Tiomtnt  no= 
Ctrl  ii)efu  criCti  cum  omnia}  u(i= 
fits  amen. 

Without  pagination  or  signatures;  printed  in  double 
columns,  ^6  lines  to  a  full  column.  According  to  Hain, 
and  Masch,  a  perfect  copy  contains  264  leaves  in  the 
first  volume,  310  in  the  second,  and  296  in  the  third: 
870  leaves  in  the  whole  work. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

Z^t  (men^efin  ^iUu  (1460-U61!) 

THE    THIRD    PRINTED    BIBLE. 

THE  THIRD  BIBLE  is  generally  known  as  The 
Mentelin  Bible  from  the  name  of  its  printer, 
Johannes  Mentelin,  or,  The  Strasburg  Bible., 
from  the  name  of  the  place  where  it  was  printed. 

It  is  thus  entered  in  the  Catalogue  of  the  Caxton 
Exhibition : 

iSttlta  .Sacraf  Hattna,  (Third  Latin  Bible.) 
Strasburg:  Jo.  Mentelin,  1460  and  1461  }  2  vols.,  folio. 
iSf  by  I  if  inches.  Lent  by  Earl  Spencer.  Without 
title-page,  pagination,  or  signatures  ;  477  leaves,  printed 
in  double  columns,  49  lines  to  a  full  column.  The 
rubrics  and  initials  are  in  MS.  throughout.  A  copy 
of  this  Bible  is  preserved  in  the  library  of  Freiburg  in 
Breisgau,  with  the  rubrications  of  the  volumes  dated 
1460  and  1461,  ranking  this  edition  as  the  third  Latin 
Bible." 


62  FIFTEENTH    CENTURY    BIBLES. 

There  is  a  copy  of  this  Bible  on  exhibition  in  the 
Lenox  Library. 

Mr.  Hawkins  gives  this  Bible  the  second  place,  and 
says  :  "A  copy  of  this  Bible  in  the  University  Library  at 
Freiburg,  in  Breisgau,  Baden,  is  in  two  volumes ;  has 
at  the  end  of  the  first  this  inscription :  '  Explicit 
psalteriu  1460;'  and  at  the  end  of  the  second,  'Explicit 
Apocalipsis  Anno  dfii  MoCCCCLXL'  The  authenticity 
of  the  inscriptions  is  vouched  for  by  the  fact  that  they 
were  made  by  the  same  hand  which  rubricated  every 
page  in  both  volumes.  Accepting  these  dates  as  made 
in  good  faith,  a  press  must  have  been  set  up  at  Strasburg 
as  early  as  1459,  which  would  entitle  that  city  to  the 
position,  in  the  history  of  printing,  which  has  usually 
been  assigned  to  Bamberg,  since  the  first  volume  of  the 
Mentelin  edition  has  an  implied  earlier  date  than  any 
known  copy  of  the  so-called  Bamberg  Bible.  I  am 
therefore  compelled  to  give  Strasburg  the  second 
place  in  the  chronological  arrangement  which  I  have 
adopted." 

Lack  of  positive  information  makes  abundant  room 
for  difference  of  opinion  and  arrangement.  Such 
historical  puzzles  are  an  agreeable  form  of  intellectual 
recreation.  They  also  keep  inquiring  minds  from  those 
prophetic  problems  which  lead  so  many  uninspired  men 
into  manifest  absurdities.  The  future  never  fails  to 
make  itself  known  in  good  season,  but  we  must  look 
after  the  past,  or  it  will  escape  us  entirely. 

It  is  now  considered  probable  that  Strasburg  received 


A    STUDY    IN    BIBLIOGRAPHY.  63 

the  art  of  printing  from  Mentz,  at  least  as  early  as 
Bamberg.  Mentelin  is  believed  to  have  printed  the  first 
Bible  in  German,  the  Epistles  of  St.  Jerome,  and  several 
other  large  folios.  He  was  buried  in  the  Strasburg 
Cathedral,  which  contains  a  tablet  with  a  magniloquent 
inscription,  attributing  to  him  the  invention  and  develop- 
ment of  the  art  of  printing.  This  claim,  like  that  of 
many  others,  was  not  made  until  long  after  his  death, 
and  is  not  supported  by  public  or  private  records.  He 
was  for  a  time  in  partnership  with  Henry  Eggesteyn, 
became  prosperous  as  a  publisher,  issued  descriptive 
catalogues,  and  employed  agents  for  the  sale  of  his 
works.  Philip  de  Lignamine,  of  Rome,  in  1474,  said 
that  Mentelin  printed  in  Strasburg  after  1458. 

We  give  the  following  descriptive  points  of  The 
Third  Bible : 

]3tl)lta  <&acta  Hattna.  [strasburg:  Jo.  Mentelin, 
1460  and  1461 .?]    2  vols.,  folio. 

(F.  la :)  iiater  antbroCtus  ttta/micl)i  munuf^ 
cula  petfe/rfsj.  tietulit  ti^  ct  fuauiflifmas  leas,  q 
apn'ncipio/  amiciciaru.  fiUc  ptobate/^/r. 

(F.jb., col.  I,  I.  j6:j  [n] prmcipio  cttauit  treus 
criu  et  teram./^Terra  autem  etat  inants  et  bacua : 
ct  ttnttvt/tvant  iup  faciT  abifft'.  &"  Cpus  tixu  fer- 
fbat  inptv/etc. 

( F.  215a,  col.  2,  /.  46.,  explicit.  Psalt. :)    OtltntS  (pit= 

itus  lautret  ^omfnum.  Alleluia. 

(F.  2i6a :)  [  ]  unsat  rpiftola  quos  iu0tt  Cater* 


64  FIFTEENTH    CENTURY    BIBLES. 

trotium :  fmmo  /  carta  non  ^iuitrat :  quos  V9i 
nectit  amor,  ton/eu. 

(F.  342a,   col.  I,  I.  38,   term.  V.    T.:)      ItOU    ttXt 

fitattts :  ijic  trgo  erit  confummatiis. 

(Seq.    Ep.    S.    Hieronytni:)      [  ]    ratt0tmO    pape 

tramaCo  irro=/nimus.  TJCouum  opus  me/facrrt 
tofiis  ep  beteri:  utpoCt/epemplaria  Ccripturarti 
toto/^/<r. 

ri\^.  r.  expi.foi.  427a,  col.  I,  I.  42 :)  <3rratta  TlRl 
nf  ( ilj^tt  ppi  cu  omiij^  uotiis  amen. 

Gothic  Letter.  Without  date,  place  of  imprint,  and 
name  of  printer;  477  leaves,  printed  in  double  columns, 
49  lines  to  a  full  column,  and  without  pagination,  or 
signatures. 


CHAPTER  IX. 


t^t  Si^H  'S>Akt)  Q^iBfe.  (1462). 

THE    FOURTH    PRINTED    BIBLE. 

THE  FOURTH  BIBLE  is  unique  in  this  respect, 
that  it  is  ^/le  first  edition  of  the  Bible  with  the  date, 
name  of  printer,  and  place  where  printed.  It  was 
printed  by  Fust  and  Schoffer,  at  Mentz,  1462.  2  vols. 
Gothic  letter.  Three  copies  of  this  were  in  the  Caxton 
Exhibition,  one  on  pure  vellum  richly  illuminated  in 
gold  and  colors,  lent  by  Earl  Spencer,  another  equally 
rich  lent  by  Earl  Jersey,  and  a  third  copy,  on  paper, 
lent  by  Mr.  Stevens.  At  the  Syston  Park  Sale,  a  copy 
of  this  Bible  on  vellum  sold  for  $5,000. 

This  fourth  Bible  brings  us  back  to  the  city  where 
the  art  of  printing  originated.  Gutenberg's  first  book 
and  Bible,  though  cherished  to  this  day  as  one  of  the 
most  splendid  specimens  of  typography,  was  a  financial 
disaster.  As  the  result  of  a  law  suit,  his  office  and 
materials  passed  into  the  hands  of  his  creditor,  Fust, 


66  FIFTEENTH    CENTURY    BIBLES. 

who  formed  a  partnership  with  Peter  Schoffer,  and 
these  two  became  Gutenberg's  successors  in  Mentz. 
Their  Bible,  the  first  with  a  date  and  name  of  printer, 
and  place  where  printed,  is  usually  called  the  Bible  of 
1462.  Both  the  Lenox  and  Astor  Libraries  have  a 
copy  of  this  Bible  on  exhibition.  This  Fust,  who  is  so 
closely  associated  with  Gutenberg,  has  been  confused  in 
literature  and  legend  with  Dr.  John  Faust,  a  somewhat 
mythical  character,  who  was  born  after  the  death  of 
Gutenberg,  and  whose  career  as  a  magician  is  the  foun- 
dation of  many  tales  in  prose  and  poetry.  Historical 
students  do  not  give  any  credit  to  the  old,  old  story,  thus 
told  by  DTsraeli,  relating  to  this  very  Bible  of  1462  : 

"  A  considerable  number  of  copies  of  the  Bible  were 
printed  to  imitate  Manuscripts,  and  the  sale  of  them  in 
Paris  entrusted  to  Fust,  as  MSS.  Consequent  upon  his 
selling  them  at  sixty  crowns  per  copy,  whilst  the  other 
scribes  demanded  five  hundred,  universal  astonishment 
was  created,  and  still  more  when  he  produced  copies  as 
fast  as  they  were  wanted,  and  even  lowered  the  price. 
The  uniformity  of  the  copies  increased  the  wonder. 
Informations  were  given  in  to  the  magistrates  against 
him  as  a  magician,  and  on  searching  his  lodgings  a  great 
number  of  copies  were  found.  The  red  ink  (and  Fust's 
red  ink  is  peculiarly  brilliant)  which  embellished  his 
copies  was  said  to  be  his  blood,  and  it  was  solemnly 
adjudged  that  he  was  in  league  with  the  infernals.  Fust 
at  length  was  obliged  (to  save  himself  from  a  bonfire) 
to    reveal    his    art    to    the    parliament    of  Paris,   who 


A    STUDY    IN    BIBLIOGRAPHY.  67 

discharged  him  from  all  prosecution  in  consideration 
of  the  wonderful  invention." 

Mr.  De  Vinne  sums  up  the  facts  of  the  case  in  the 
following  paragraph  :  "  Eager  to  prevent  the  threatened 
rivalry  of  Jenson,  Fust  appeared  in  Paris,  in  1462,  with 
copies  of  the  Bible,  while  Jenson  was  ineffectually 
soliciting  the  new  King  to  aid  him.  So  far  from  being 
persecuted  in  Paris,  Fust  was  received  with  high 
consideration,  not  only  by  the  King,  but  by  the  leading 
men  of  the  city.  He  was  encouraged  to  establish  in 
Paris  a  store  for  the  sale  of  his  books  and  to  repeat  his 
visit."  He  is  believed  to  have  died  of  the  plague  in 
Paris  in  1466,  where  he  was  buried  in  the  Church 
of  Saint  Victor. 

Besides  his  famous  Bible  of  1462  and  the  equally 
famous  Mentz  Psalters,  1457-59,  etc.,  Fust  published  the 
Rationale  Divinorum  Officiorum,  i459>  3.n  exposition  of 
the  services  of  the  church  by  Durandus.  This  is  the 
third  book  with  a  date.  Copies  of  this  book  can  be 
seen  at  both  the  Astor  and  Lenox  Libraries.  Besides 
other  large  theological  works,  Fust  and  Schoffer  printed 
the  first  edition  of  a  classic,  Cicero  de  Officiis,  1465,  a 
small  quarto  of  eighty-eight  leaves.  It  contains  the 
following  colophon:  "This  very  celebrated  work  of 
Marcus  Tullius,  I,  John  Fust,  a  citizen  of  Mentz,  have 
happily  completed  through  the  hands  of  Peter,  my  son, 
not  with  writing  ink,  nor  with  pen,  nor  yet  in  brass,  but 
with  a  certain  art  exceedingly  beautiful.  Dated  1465." 
It  is  pleasant  to  know  that  the  first  secular  writing  of 


6S  FIFTEENTH    CENTURY    BIBLES. 

any  importance  to  be  committed  to  the  press  was  one 
of  the  purest  and  noblest  of  the  productions  of  antiquity, 
a  work  akin  to  the  Bible  in  being  a  treatise  on  moral 
obligations,  and  by  its  very  excellence  revealing  the 
infinite  distance  between  the  Word  of  God  and  the  best 
utterances  of  an  uninspired  mind.  It  is  fitting  that  the 
first  and  grandest  of  the  earliest  printed  books  should 
be  the  Bible.  It  is  also  fitting  that  the  first  classic 
author  to  appear  in  this  marvelous  form  should  be  one 
who  was  an  enthusiastic  lover  and  collector  of  literary 
treasures.  A  copy  of  this  book  is  to  be  seen  at  the 
Astor  Library. 

We  give  a  few  descriptive  points  that  identify  the 
Fourth  Printed  Bible: 

Volume  First  ends  with  the  Psalms,  and  contains 
242  leaves.  The  Epistle  of  St.  Jerome  begins  at  the  top 
of  the  first  column,  on  the  recto  of  the  first  leaf,  the  first 
two  lines,  forming  the  prefix,  are  printed  in  red. 

Jncip  rpl^a  Cci  ii)etonimi  atr  jjaulinu  ^ihitt^ 
ru:  'at  omita  Triuine  tiftorie  litirts.ca.jpmu* 

[f]  J^atrr  amtjroftus  tua 
miciji  munufcula  pfe= 
tens,  tretuttt  itmui  et 
fuauifCimas  Iras :  IJ  a 
pitcipio.  amicicia?:  fh 
trem.  ptate  iam  filfci: 
et  tJtUrts  amicicte  no* 
tta  prtrtiant.  bera  ml  lUa  uccciKtuTro  ?. 


A    STUDY    IN    BIBLIOGRAPHY.  69 

At  the  bottom  of  the  second  column  on  the  verso  of 
the  last  leaf  is  the  date,  and  device  of  the  printers, 
printed  in  red: 

^nno  5fW.  .ccccJpif. 

Volume  Second,  contains  239  leaves,  and  begins 
with  the  following  summary  printed  in  red : 

ISpiCtola  Cancti  itvonimi  prcCtJiteri  ati  ci)co 
mattti  et  tUoTioru  epos  tit  Ulitin  falomonis» 

The  volume  concludes  with  the  Apocalypse  :  "  Explicit 
liber  apocalipsis  beati  iohannis  apl'l,"  printed  in  red,  and 
the  following  colophon,  also  in  red  : 

3ttns  l)oc  opuCctilu  ^vtiUtioia  atrtnuettone 
^^  im^mtnlii  Uu  caratterijantri  afifq?  calami 
eparacon.  in  cfuitate  JWoguntu  itc  ef&'fliatu. 
I  atr  euCetia  trei  intruftric  pec  Joi)*ef  iFuCt  ciue 
}^ttvu  Cci)oiflft)et  Tre  flernrijegm,  elericii  Tri= 
otef^  efunrem  eft  co^^:umatu^  ^nno  tint  |E. 
ccec.  Ipi).  Jn  iiiQilia  affumpcois  tJirfl.  marie. 


CHAPTER  X. 


^atin  Qg>i6fe«. 

THE    DISPERSION    OF    PRINTING:       I462-1471. 

IN    1462,    during    a    war   between    two    archbishops, 
Mentz    was   besieged    and   captured,    many   of  its 
citizens  were  exiled,  and   the   art   of  printing  was 
introduced  into  many  European  cities. 

Throughout  the  remainder  of  the  century  the  Bible 
in  Latin  continued  to  be  printed  in  frequent  and  splendid 
editions.  Mr.  Stevens  says  that  during  the  first  forty 
years  of  printing,  the  Bible  exceeded  in  amount  all  other 
books  put  together,  and  that  "  its  quality,  style  and 
variety  were  not  a  whit  behind  its  quantity."  Not  less 
than  a  thousand  editions  of  the  Bible  were  printed 
before  the  end  of  the  century,  most  of  them  of  the 
largest  and  costliest  kind,  and  nearly  all  of  them  in 
Latin.  During  this  period  Bibles  were  printed  also 
in    German,    Italian,    and  other  modern  languages,  but 


72  FIFTEENTH    CENTURY    BIBLES. 

these  will  not  be  considered  until  after  this  brief  sketch 
of  the  best  known  Latin  Bibles  which  followed  the  first 
four  that  have  been  described. 

The  Eggesteyn  Bibles  are  usually  catalogued  as 
the  fifths  sixth  and  seventh  Latin  Bibles,  and  attributed 
to  Heinrich  Eggesteyn,  Sirasburg,  1468,  '69,  '70.  For  a 
time  he  was  a  partner  of  Mentelin,  the  printer  of  the 
Third  Latin  and  First  German  Bible,  and  was  himself 
the  printer  of  the  Second  German  Bible.  Eggesteyn 
published  many  other  large  folios.  He  was  a  man  of 
considerable  prominence,  being  a  master  of  arts  and 
philosophy,  an  officer  of  the  city,  and  the  chancellor  of 
the  Bishop  at  Strasburg. 

Two  of  Eggesteyn 's  Latin  Bibles  were  in  the  Caxton 
Exhibition,  both  from  the  Althorp  Library,  lent  by  Earl 
Spencer,  one  entered  as  the  First  Edition,  1468,  (.?)  the 
other  as  "  1469,  (.?)  sometimes  attributed  to  J.  Baemler, 
of  Augsburg,  but  the  type  the  same  as  that  generally 
attributed  to  Eggesteyn,  and  the  paper-mark  undoubt- 
edly his." 

Three  of  Eggesteyn's  Bibles  are  on  exhibition  in  the 
Lenox  Library,  one  marked  "  1468-70,  (.?)  the  fifth 
Latin  Bible,"  another  marked  "  1470,  (.'')  "  and  another 
marked  "Eggesteyn's  second  edition,  Duke  of  Sussex 
Copy,  The  Seventh  Latin  Bible." 

The  Zell  Bibles  bring  us  to  Cologne,  the  third  city 
to  receive  the  art  of  printing  from  Mentz,  where  Ulrtc 
Zell,  probably  a  workman  of  Schoffer,  is  believed  to 
have  printed  two  folio  editions  of  the  Latin  Bible,  1470 


A    STUDY    IN    BIBLIOGRAPHY.  73 

and  147 1.  The  first  book  with  a  date,  known  to  have 
been  printed  at  Cologne,  is  St  Chrysostom  on  the  Fiftieth 
Psalm,  1466.  It  is  attributed  to  Zell,  whose  name  is  of 
special  interest  to  us,  because  he  has  been  mentioned  as 
the  chief  instructor  of  William  Caxton,  the  first  English 
printer.  Mr.  Blades,  who  has  written  most  exhaustively 
in  regard  to  Caxton,  does  not  admit  this,  though  he 
recognizes  the  fact  that  Caxton  was  in  Cologne  during 
his  residence  on  the  Continent.  He  attributes  Caxton *s 
typographical  work  entirely  to  his  association  with 
Colard  Mansion  at  Bruges  or  elsewhere.  Two  of  Zell's 
Cologne  Bibles  were  in  the  Caxton  Exhibition,  one  from 
the  Althorp  and  the  other  from  the  Bodleian  Library. 
Though  Zell's  first  dated  book  was  printed  in  1466, 
some  bibliographers  believe  that  he  began  to  print  as 
early  as  1462.  He  was  not  only  one  of  the  earliest 
printers,  but  one  who  introduced  improvements.  After 
1467  he  always  spaced  out  the  lines  of  his  books  to  an 
even  length.  Mr.  Blades  argues  from  this  that  Mansion 
and  Caxton  did  not  learn  their  art  from  him,  or  they 
would  have  made  use  of  this  improvement  in  their  first 
productions. 

By  this  time  Italy,  Bohemia,  Switzerland  and  France 
had  printing-presses,  Italy  being  the  first  to  receive  the 
art  from  Germany. 

The  SwEYNHEYM  AND  Pannartz  Bible,  printed  at 
Rome,  147 1,  is  the  first  Bible  printed  out  of  Germany. 
In  the  same  year  two  different  translations  into  Italian 
were  printed  at  Venice. 


74  FIFTEENTH    CENTURY   BIBLES. 

Arnold  Pannartz  and  Conrad  Sweynheym  were  Ger- 
mans, probably  workmen  of  Gutenberg  and  Fust.  They 
were  invited  and  welcomed  to  Subiaco,  near  Rome,  by 
Cardinal  Torquemada,  the  head  of  the  Benedictine 
monastery,  in  which  they  established  their  press.  Lead- 
ing ecclesiastical  officials  gave  them  encouragement  and 
help,  not  dreaming  that  this  magic  art  would  in  a  few 
generations  completely  destroy  their  temporal  power  and 
vastly  impair  their  spiritual  supremacy.  Sweynheym 
and  Pannartz's  first  known  work,  Cicero  de  Oratore,  is 
believed  to  have  been  printed  at  Subiaco  in  1465. 

In  1467  they  had  removed  to  Rome,  where  they  were 
established  in  the  house  and  under  the  protection  of 
Prince  Massimo,  and  published  over  eight  volumes  a 
year  for  five  years,  producing  12,000  copies  of  books 
before  1474.  Their  works  were  mainly  editions  of 
classic  authors,  and  were  not  so  profitable  as  the  large 
theological  folios  by  which  Mentelin,  of  Strasburg,  had 
been  enriched.  There  is  a  letter  extant  in  which  these 
printers  appeal  to  Pope  Sixtus  IV.  for  help,  giving  a  list 
of  their  works.  Sweynheym  retired  from  the  firm  and 
devoted  himself  to  copper-plate  engraving.  Their  last 
dated  book  was  issued  in  December,  1473,  though 
Pannartz  continued  to  print  for  a  few  years.  Both  are 
said  to  have  died  before  1477. 

This  Roman  Latin  Bible,  147 1,  contains  the  name  of 
the  printers  and  the  place  and  date,  being  the  Second 
Bible  with  a  date.     Only  275  copies  were  printed. 

The  wonderful  Althorp  or  Spencer  Library  furnished 


A    STUDY    IN    BIBLIOGRAPHY.  75 

the  copy  in  the  Caxton  Exhibition.  This  Library  is  one 
of  the  richest  in  the  world  in  specimens  illustrating  the 
early  history  of  typography,  and  especially  the  early 
history  of  the  printed  Bible,  In  this  latter  respect  it  is 
surpassed  by  the  Lenox  Library,  of  which  Mr.  Stevens 
says  :  "  The  collection  of  Bibles  and  parts  thereof  in  the 
Lenox  Library  of  New  York,  in  all  languages,  is  probably 
unsurpassed  in  rare  and  valuable  editions,  especially  in 
the  English  language,  by  any  library,  public  or  private." 


CHAPTER  XI. 


^atin  (gme^ 


BASLE    AND    NUREMBERG:      I471-1480. 


IN  MAKING  THIS  RECORD  of  Fifteenth  Century 
Latin  Bibles  we  have  journeyed  from  Mentz  to 
Strasburg,  Cologne  and  Rome,  where  Sweynheym 
and  Pannartz  printed  their  Bible  in  147 1.  There  is  a 
Latin  Bible  by  Schoffer^  Mentz,  1472,  which  very  closely 
resembles  that  of  1462,  but  these  Bibles  are  not 
identical. 

Switzerland  was  the  next  country  after  Italy  to 
receive  printing  from  Germany.  Bohemia  received  it 
about  the  same  time,  and  the  third  place  in  this  respect 
is  given  to  it  by  Mr.  Hawkins.  But  the  next  Bibles 
on  record  are  attributed  to  Basle.  In  the  Caxton 
Exhibition  there  were  three  different  folio  Latin  Bibles 
which  may  be  called  The  Rodt  and  Richel  Bibles, 
as  they  are   attributed  to  Berthold  Rodt  and  Bernard 


78  FIFTEENTH    CENTURY    BIBLES. 

Richel,  of  Basle,  Switzerland.  They  are  all  without 
names  and  dates,  their  origin  being  inferred  from  the 
type  used,  and  other  indications.  In  the  Catalogue  they 
are  entered  as  follows  : 

The  one  with  436  leaves,  Rodt  and  Richel,  1473  {?). 
The  one  with  537  leaves,  Rodt,  1474  (?). 
The  one  with  460  leaves,  Richel,  1474  (?). 

The  Rodt  and  Richel  Bible  on  exhibition  in  the 
Lenox  Library  corresponds  with  the  first  of  these,  having 
436  leaves  in  the  two  volumes. 

Berthold  Rodt,  called  also  Berthold  Ruppel  de 
Hanau,  was  a  witness  in  the  famous  law  suit  between 
Gutenberg  and  Fust  at  Mentz.  When  these  Bibles  were 
printed  at  Basle,  the  city  was  not  yet  a  member  of  the 
Swiss  confederation,  but  being  Swiss  in  spirit,  and  about 
to  be  so  in  fact,  it  is  considered  as  belonging  to  that 
country  in  this  connection. 

Very  erroneous  notions  prevail  as  to  the  money  value 
of  old  Bibles,  because  large  prices  are  paid  for  certain 
rare  and  interesting  copies.  It  is  only  less  remarkable 
to  observe  how  small  a  price  is  asked  for  other  examples 
of  very  early  printing.  In  the  catalogue  of  a  London 
bookseller  recently  received,  there  is  a  Latin  Bible, 
entered  as  "in  the  types  of  Rodt  and  Richel,  Basle, 
about  1470,  2  vols.,  folio,  very  fine  copy,  tall  and  clean, 
half  vellum,  with  ties,  j£$,  15s.  6d."  It  ought  to  modify 
the  expectations  of  those  who  have  old  books  to  sell,  to 
know   that  beautiful  and   perfect  volumes,   Bibles  and 


A    STUDY   IN    BIBLIOGRAPHY.  79 

Other  books,  genuine  incunabula^  printed  by  famous 
printers  during  the  first  half  century  of  printing,  can  be 
bought  in  London  and  New  York  for  ten,  twenty  or 
thirty  dollars  each,  and  often  for  much  less. 

Other  Basle  Bibles.  This  city  has  the  distinction 
of  being  the  first  city  to  produce  the  Bible  in  octavo,  that 
is,  a  Bible  of  the  size  of  the  vast  majority  of  books 
now  printed  for  ordinary  reading.  This  Bible  has 
consequently  been  called  the  first  edition  of  the  "  poor 
man's  Bible."  The  "poor  man"  in  this  connection 
must  mean  the  poor  scholar,  for  poor  men  in  that  day 
could  not  read  in  their  own  tongue,  much  less  in  Latin. 
It  was  doubtless  very  welcome  to  poor  students  and 
ecclesiastics.  This  Latin  Bible  was  printed  by  John 
Froben  de  Hammelbruck  at  Basle  1491,  and  is  one  of  his 
first  books,  if  not  the  first.  The  splendidly  bound  and 
illuminated  copy  of  this  Bible  in  the  Bodleian  Library 
does  not  look  like  a  "poor  man's  Bible."  Froben 
printed  a  quarto  Latin  Bible  in  1495,  and  a  folio  Latin 
Bible  in  1498. 

His  name  is  inseparably  associated  with  that  of 
Erasmus,  the  greatest  scholar  and  man  of  letters  of  his 
day.  Soon  after  the  beginning  of  the  next  century 
Erasmus  settled  permanently  in  Basle,  and  became 
Froben's  editor  and  literary  adviser.  This  association 
resulted  in  making  Basle  for  the  time  the  great  literary 
centre  of  Europe,  and  Froben's  press  the  most  celebrated. 
His  New  Testaments  in  Greek  and  Latin,  and  other 
works,  belong  to  a  later  period. 


8o  FIFTEENTH    CENTURY    BIBLES. 

In  this  same  year  there  was  also  a  folio  Latin  Bible 
by  Nicolas  Keslers,  Basle,  1491. 

After  1474  great  Bibles  were  multiplied  in  both  Latin 
and  German.  Among  the  most  famous  of  these  were 
The  CoBURGER  Bibles,  the  first  of  which  was  the  folio 
Latin  Bible, printed  by  Anthony  Coburger  at  Nuremberg^ 
1475.  He  is  said  to  have  had  twenty-four  presses  and 
one  hundred  men  employed  daily,  besides  furnishing 
work  to  printers  at  Basle,  Lyons,  and  other  places. 
Coburger  printed  thirteen  editions  of  the  Bible  in 
twenty-six  years,  twelve  in  Latin  and  one  in  German,  all 
large  and  handsome  folios.  Copies  of  his  Latin  Bibles 
were  in  the  Caxton  Exhibition  dated  1475,  i477>  147^, 
1479,  1480.  His  Latin  Bibles  of  1477  ^"^  1480  are  on 
exhibition  at  the  Lenox  Library.  The  broad  margins  of 
the  1477  copy  are  completely  covered  with  commentaries, 
emendations  and  interlineations  in  the  handwriting  of 
Philip  Melancthon. 

Some  time  ago  I  saw  a  copy  of  the  1477  Coburger 
Bible  for  sale  at  the  rooms  of  the  Presbyterian  Board  of 
Publication  in  Philadelphia,  where  it  had  been  placed 
by  the  owner,  who  was  waiting  for  an  offer.  A  copy 
of  this  same  Bible  is  thus  entered  in  a  bookseller's 
catalogue  recently  sent  from  London : 

Bttllia  Sacra  Hatina,  2  vols,  in  i,  folio;  in  the 
original  oak  boards,  covered  with  stamped  pigskin,  very 
rare,  ;^3o.  In  regia  civitate,  Nurnbergn.  p.  Antonium 
Coburger,  1477. 

"A  remarkably  fine,  clean  and  large  copy,  a  number 


A    STUDY    IN    BIBLIOGRAPHY.  8l 

of  the  leaves  having  rough,  uncut  edges.  The  end 
leaves  bear  the  water-marks  of  the  Bull's  Head  and  the 
Arms  of  John  the  Fearless.  Laing's  sold  in  1879 
for  j^S^.  The  present  copy  contains  a  bookseller's 
description  of  one  priced  ^z^ioo." 

Other  Nuremberg  Bibles.  Nuremberg  produced 
another  great  folio  Latin  Bible  in  the  same  year  in  which 
Coburger  printed  his  first  edition.  It  was  printed  by 
A.  Frisner  and  J.  Sensenschttttd,  Nuremberg^  i475- 

The  first  book  printed  at  Nuremberg  with  a  date  is 
Franciscus  de  Retza's  Comestiorium  Vitiorum,  1470,  and 
is  attributed  to  Sensenschmid  and  Keffer.  Sensenschmid 
is  said  to  have  been  a  man  of  wealth.  He  associated 
himself  with  Henry  Keffer,  a  workman  of  Gutenberg, 
who  appeared  as  a  witness  in  the  law  suit  with  Fust. 
Keffer  is  supposed  to  have  established  himself  as  a 
printer  in  Nuremberg  as  early  as  1469.  Mr.  Hawkins 
attributes  to  Keffer  and  Sensenschmid  a  book  printed  at 
Nuremberg  in  1470,  according  to  its  colophon.  But 
Nuremberg  became  famous  in  the  history  of  printing 
from  the  extraordinary  enterprise  of  Coburger.  He  was 
the  publisher  of  that  large  and  entertaining  volume,  The 
Nuremberg  Chronichy  1493,  containing  more  than  two 
thousand  impressions  from  wood-cuts,  being  a  summary 
of  history,  geography  and  general  information,  edited  or 
compiled  by  Hartman  Schedel.  It  is  a  royal  folio,  and 
is  sold  for  more  or  less  than  $200,  according  to  the  size 
and  condition  of  the  copy.  A  London  bookseller's 
catalogue,  recently  received,  offers  a  very  tall  copy,  18^ 


82  FIFTEENTH    CENTURY    BIBLES. 

inches  by  12^,  beautifully  bound  in  morocco  super 
extra,  by  Riviere,  for  ^^5-  It  is  said  that  there  were 
seventeen  master  type  printers  and  many  block-book 
printers  in  Nuremberg  before  1500.  It  was  just  at  this 
period,  at  the  end  of  the  15th  and  the  beginning  of  the 
i6th  century,  that  Albert  Durer  began  to  make  his  art, 
himself  and  Nuremberg  illustrious.  It  was  the  Bible 
which  made  him,  as  well  as  Wiclif,  a  morning  star  of  the 
Reformation. 


CHAPTER  XII. 


FRANCE    AND    ITALY  :       1470-150O. 

PLACENTIA  OR  PIACENZA,  ITALY,  is  credited 
with  f^e  first  Bible  printed  in  Quarto.  It  is 
a  Latin  Bible  printed  by  Johannes  Petrus 
d'Ferraiisy  Placeniia,  1475.  Copies  of  this  Bible  are  in 
the  Ambrosian  Library  at  Milan,  and  the  Althorp  Library, 
England. 

In  the  Caxton  Exhibition  there  was  a  folio  Latin 
Bible  attributed  to  Strasburg,  1475,  with  no  name  of 
printer,  lent  by  Dr.  Ginsburg.  His  collection  of  Bibles 
numbers  two  or  three  thousand  editions,  including  many 
of  the  earliest  and  rarest  in  different  languages. 

The  year  1476  was  a  remarkable  year  for  splendid 
folio  editions  of  the  Bible  in  Latin.  No  less  than  five 
are  well  known,  one  of  which,  by  Sensenschmid,  has 
already  been  mentioned  in  connection  with  Nuremberg. 


84  FIFTEENTH    CENTURY    BIBLES. 

Another  of  these  folios  brings  us  to  France,  the  next 
great  country  after  Germany  and  Italy,  to  receive  the 
Art  of  Printing.  Guillaume  Fichet  and  Jean  de  la 
Pierre,  members  of  the  Sorbonne,  induced  three  German 
printers,  Ulric  Gering,  Martinus  Crantz  and  Michael 
Friburger,  to  come  to  Paris,  where  they  fitted  up  a  room 
for  them  in  the  Sorbonne,  in  which  they  began  to  print 
in  1470.  There  is  a  copy  of  their  Bible  in  the  Lenox 
Library,  which  is  described  as  by  Gering,  Crajitz  a?id 
Friburger  (1476  ?),  folio.  The  first  Bible  printed  at 
Paris.  Panzer  says  that  there  were  85  printers  and  790 
works  printed  in  Paris  during  the  fifteenth  century. 

Another  folio  Latin  Bible  printed  in  this  year  brings 
us  to  Naples,  where  printing  was  introduced  by  Sixtus 
Riessinger,  a  priest  of  Strasburg,  in  147 1.  Florence, 
Bologna,  Ferrara,  and  many  other  Italian  cities  received 
it  about  the  same  time.  Matt.  Moravus  printed  at 
Genoa  with  Michael  de  Monacho  in  1474.  He  removed 
the  next  year  to  Naples,  and  in  the  year  following 
printed  his  folio  Latin  Bible,  a  copy  of  which  is  in 
the  Lenox  Library,  entered  as :  By  Matt.  Moravus, 
Naples,   1476. 

Two  other  Latin  Bibles  of  this  date  were  printed  at 
Venice,  and  will  be  considered  later.  In  this  year  an 
edition  of  the  Aurea  Biblia,  was  printed  by  Johan  Zeiner 
de  Reutlingen,  at  Ulni,  1476.  This  is  a  manual  of  Bible 
Histories  by  Ant.  Eampigollis,  which  had  been  previously 
printed  in  one  dated  and  several  undated  editions. 
Venice  occupies  a  proud  position  in  the  early  history 


A    STUDY    IN    BIBLIOGRAPHY.  85 

of  printing,  both  for  the  amount  and  excellence  of  her 
work.  Even  among  the  unlearned  the  names  of  some  of 
her  great  printers  are  better  known  than  the  names  of  her 
wealthiest  merchants  or  most  magnificent  rulers.  It  is 
estimated  that  Venice  produced  2,000,000  of  volumes 
during  the  first  half  century  of  printing.  This  may- 
lessen  our  wonder  that  nearly  every  lover  of  old  books 
in  Europe  or  America  has  in  his  library  more  than  one 
book  over  four  hundred  years  old.  Before  1500,  Venice 
had  had  more  than  two  hundred  printers,  who  had 
printed  about  3,000  editions,  including  Venetian  Bibles, 
to  the  extent  of  twenty  editions. 

Her  first  printer  was  John  de  Spira,  supposed  to  have 
been  of  Spire  on  the  Rhine.  His  first  dated  work  is 
Cicero's  Epistolce  ad  FamiliareSy  1468,  a  folio  of  125 
leaves. 

Two  translations  of  the  Bible  into  Italian  were 
printed  at  Venice  in  147 1,  one  by  Vindelin,  brother  of 
John  de  Spira,  the  other  by  N.  Jenson.  But  the  first 
Latin  Bible  printed  at  Venice,  is  the  small  folio  by  F. 
de  Hailbrun  and  N.  de  Frankfordia,  I475-  Hailbrun 
printed  a  Latin  Bible  in  Quarto,  1480. 

In  the  next  year  two  folio  Latin  Bibles  appeared  at 
Venice  :  one  by  these  same  printers,  F.  de  Hailbrun 
and  N.  de  Frankfordia,  1476;  the  other  by  Nicolas 
Jenson,  1476.  There  is  a  copy  of  this  1476  Jenson 
Bible  at  the  Lenox  Library,  in  the  same  case  with  three 
other  Latin  Bibles  of  the  same  date,  all  of  which  have 
just  been  mentioned. 


86  FIFTEENTH    CENTURY    BIBLES. 

Jenson  is  pre-eminent  among  printers  of  the  fifteenth 
century  for  the  perfection  of  his  work,  his  skill  as  an 
engraver  enabling  him  to  surpass  his  rivals  in  many 
respects.  He  had  been  employed  at  the  mint  in  Paris, 
and  was  sent  by  Charles  VII,  in  1458  to  Mentz  to 
learn  the  new  art  from  Gutenberg.  Louis  XI.  did 
not  encourage  his  father's  project,  and  Jenson  was 
unable  to  establish  a  press  at  Paris.  He  removed  to 
Venice,  where  his  books  in  improved  Roman  type  soon 
made  him  famous.  He  received  a  title  from  Pope 
Sixtus  IV.,  and  died  in  1482.  Mr.  De  Vinne  says :  "As 
a  type-founder,  printer  and  ink-maker,  Jenson  had  no 
rival,  and  left  no  proper  successor."  Another  folio 
Latin  Bible  by  Jenson,  Venice^  i479j  was  in  the  Caxton 
Exhibition,  lent  by  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society. 
There  were  two  folio  Latin  Bibles  in  the  previous  year, 
by  different  printers,  one  by  Leonardus  Vuild  de  Ratisbon 
and  N.  de  Frankfordia,  Venice,  1478,  the  other  by 
T.  de  Reynsburck  and  Reynaldi  de  Novimagio,  Venice, 
1478.  Among  the  numerous  Bibles  of  the  closing  years 
of  the  century  were  a  Latin  yi?//'^,  by  Herbort  de  Siligenstat, 
Venice,  1483,  and  another  Latin  folio  by  Paganinus  de 
Paganinis,  Venice,  1495. 

Two  Quarto  Bibles  have  been  mentioned  in  this 
connection.  Another  Quarto  Latin  Bible,  by  Georgius 
Ravabenis,  Venice,  1487,  is  the  first  Bible  with  a  separate 
title-page.  There  were  Quarto  Latin  Bibles  by  Simon 
Bevilaqua,  Venice,  1494  and  1498. 

The  Latin  Bible,  by  Hieronimus  de  Paganinis,  Venice, 


A    STUDY    IN    BIBLIOGRAPHY.  87 

1492,  is  the  earliest  Bible  with  an  illustration  on  the 
title-page.  There  is  a  Latin  Bible,  Octavo,  by  the  same 
printer,  1497, 

Hebrew  and  Greek.  The  first  complete  edition  of 
the  Bible  in  Hebrew  was  printed  at  Soncino  by  Abraham 
ben  Chayin  de'  Tintori,  i^?>2,,  folio.  The  Pentateuch  had 
been  printed  by  the  same  printer  at  Bologna  in  1482, 
and  other  portions  of  the  Old  Testament  later. 

The  Psalms  were  printed  in  Greek  and  Latin  at 
Milan,  1481. 

The  great  editions  of  the  Bible  in  Greek  belong  to 
the  sixteenth  century. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 


FIFTEENTH    CENTURY. 

IT  IS  NOT  KNOWN  at  what  time  the  Bible  was 
translated  into  the  German,  though  fragments 
of  such  translations  have  come  down  from 
comparatively  early  times.  There  must  have  been 
a  German  translation  early  in  the  fifteenth  century,  for 
about  ten  years  after  the  invention  of  printing,  the  First 
German  Bible  was  printed  at  Strasburg  about  1466,  by 
Johannes  Mentelin,  the  printer  of  The  Third  Latin 
Bible.  It  is  a  folio,  containing  405  leaves,  printed  in 
double  columns,  60  lines  to  a  column.  Two  copies  of 
this  Bible  were  in  the  Caxton  Exhibition,  one  lent  by 
the  Queen,  the  other  by  Earl  Spencer.  Both  are  richly 
illuminated  in  gold  and  colors,  but  in  entirely  different 
styles.     The  size  and  richness  of  the  book  indicate  that 


9©  FIFTEENTH    CENTURY    BIBLES. 

it  was  not  designed  for  popular  reading.  The  Second 
German  Bible  is  also  a  folio.  It  is  attributed  to  Heinrich 
Eggesteyn,  Strasburg,  1466,  and,  like  the  preceding,  has 
405  leaves,  printed  in  double  columns,  60  lines  to  a 
column. 

These  earliest  Bibles  in  German  were  followed  by 
twelve  more  editions  in  High  German  and  three  in  Low 
German,  all  printed  before  Luther  issued  his  New 
Testament  in  1522.  Do  these  editions  discredit  the 
familiar  statement  that  Luther  gave  to  the  people  the 
Bible  in  the  vernacular  ?  Not  in  the  least.  For  all  these 
fourteen  editions  in  High  German  and  three  editions 
in  Low  German  are  known,  classed,  and  described  by 
bibliographers  as  important,  splendid,  sumptuous.  In  this 
respect  they  were  like  the  numerous  Latin  Bibles  of  the 
fifteenth  century,  some  of  which  we  have  enumerated 
and  described.  Even  now,  when  learning  and  wealth  are 
widely  distributed  among  the  masses,  it  would  not  be 
possible  to  give  the  Bible  to  any  nation,  if  it  were 
printed  only  in  magnificent  Library  editions.  No  book 
of  any  kind  ever  became  a  people's  book  which  was 
not  printed  in  an  inexpensive  form.  No  other  books 
compete  with  the  Bible,  the  "Imitation  of  Christ,"  and 
Bunyan's  "Pilgrim's  Progress,"  and  no  other  books  have 
been  issued  in  so  vast  a  number  of  cheap  editions.  Let 
us  bear  this  in  mind  in  enumerating  the  expensive 
folio  German  Bibles  which  preceded  the  translations 
of  Luther.  They  are  thus  recorded,  beginning  with  the 
two  already  mentioned : 


A    STUDY    IN    BIBLIOGRAPHY. 


91 


(I 
(2 
(3 
(4 
(5 
(6 

(7 
(8 

(9 
(10 

(II 
(12 

(13 
(14 


Johannes  Mentelin,  Strasburg,  circa  1464-66. 

Heinrich  Eggesteyn,  Strasburg,  circa  1466, 

Jodocus  Pflanzmann,  Augsburg,  «nra  1470 — 73. 

Frisner  and  Sensenschmid,  Niirnburg,  circa  1470-73. 

GUnter  Zeiner,  Augsburg,  circa  1473-75. 

Gunter  Zeiner,  Augsburg,  dated  1477. 

Anton  Sorg,  Augsburg,  1477. 

Anton  Sorg,  Augsburg,  1480. 

Anton  Coburger,  Niirnburg,  1483. 

Johann  Gruninger,  Strasburg,  1485. 

Hans  Schonsperger,  Augsburg,  1487. 

Hans  Schonsperger,  Strasburg,  1490. 

Hans  Otmar,  Augsburg,  1507. 

Silvan  Otmar,  Augsburg,  1518. 


Besides  these  splendid  editions  in  High  German, 
there  were  three  equally  grand  editions  published  in 
Low  German : 

(i.)     Quentel,  Cologne,  1480. 

(2.)     Stephan  Arndes,  Liibeck,  1494. 

(3.)     Halberstadt,  1522. 

Of  these  Bibles  eight  are  in  the  British  Museum. 
Dr.  Ginsburgh  is  said  to  have  all  the  fourteen  in  High 
German.  A  beautiful  copy  of  the  Eggesteyn  Bible  is  in 
the  Lenox  Library.  One  of  the  Augsburg  1477  Bibles 
is  the  first  German  Bible  with  a  date. 

Italy  comes  next  to  Germany  in  obtaining  the 
Scriptures  printed  in  a  native  tongue.  Two  translations 
were  issued  in  147 1.  Both  were  printed  at  Venice,  one 
by  Vindelin  de  Spira,  the  other  by  Nicolas  Jenson,  the 
best  printer  of  the  fifteenth  century.      Earl   Spencer's 


92  FIFTEENTH    CENTURY    BIBLES. 

copy  of  the  Italian  Bible,  printed  by  N.  Jenson,  at 
Venice,  147 1,  was  in  the  Caxton  Exhibition.  Like  the 
other  Bibles  of  the  period,  it  is  a  folio  i6|  by  11  inches, 
without  title-page,  pagination  or  signatures,  fifty  lines  to 
a  full  page.  Its  date  in  Roman  letters  is  at  the  end  of 
the  New  Testament.  An  Italian  Bible,  with  the  history 
of  the  Septuagint  by  Aristeas,  translated  into  Italian  by 
N.  de  Malermi,  was  printed  in  Venice,  1477,  by  Antonio 
Bolognese.  It  is  a  folio  in  two  parts.  Another  folio 
Italian  Bible  was  printed  at  Venice  by  Joan  Rosso 
Vercellese,  1487. 

France  furnished  still  less  of  the  Bible  in  the 
vernacular  during  this  period.  There  was  a  New 
Testament  in  French,  quarto,  printed  by  Buyer,  at 
Lyons,  in  about  1477.  There  was  a  Bible  in  French 
paraphrase  printed  about  1487. 

Even  the  Dutch  language  does  not  furnish  much 
more  than  this.  Mr.  Hawkins  mentions  the  Bible  in 
Dutch  as  the  first  book  printed  at  Delft,  1477,  by  Jacob 
Jacobs  Zoen  and  Mauritius  Temants  Zoen.  It  is  in 
two  volumes,  folio. 

Bohemia  produced  a  Bible  in  1488,  a  folio,  printed 
at  Prague.  Mr.  Hawkins  mentions  another  Bohemian 
Bible,  as  one  of  the  very  rarest  of  early  Bibles,  a  folio 
printed  at  Kuttenberg,  1489. 

Though  this  is  not  given  as  a  complete  record  of 
ante-reformation  translations  of  the  Scriptures,  it  includes 
the  best  known  editions  of  the  Bible  in  continental 
tongues  printed  in  the  first  half  century  of  the  art. 


A    STUDY    IN    BIBLIOGRAPHY.  93 

During  this  period  there  was  no  Bible  printed  in 
English.  So  great  is  our  poverty  in  this  respect,  that 
in  the  technical  sense  there  are  no  old  English  Bibles  — 
none  that  is  included  in  the  class  of  books  called 
incunabula.  All  that  can  be  said  is  that  early  English 
printing  is  not  actually  destitute  of  all  traces  of  the 
Scriptures.  William  Caxton,  our  first  English  printer, 
whose  life  and  work  were  very  obscurely  known  until 
our  own  day,  printed  in  1483,  the  first  year  of  the  reign 
of  Richard  III.,  a  folio  called  The  Golden  Legende. 
This  contains  an  English  translation  of  nearly  all  the 
Pentateuch  and  the  Gospels.  How  much  it  was  read 
we  do  not  know,  but  it  was  the  forerunner  of  Tyndale 
and  Coverdale,  preparing  the  way  for  the  Reformation. 
In  Gen.  iii.,  7,  it  reads:     **  ^tltl   t!)US  tijefi    l^netDC 

ttjat  tijrfi  ioere  nafeetr.  ^ntr  tijeg  tofee  fiflfle 
leufs  antr  jsetocTr  tfjem  tofigtrcr  for  to  couere 
t^egt  tnemares  in  matter  of  trecijis.**     This 

anticipates  the  reading  of  the  famous  "  Breeches  Bible," 
which  is  the  Genevan  Version  of  1560. 

All  that  bibliographical  students  have  discovered  in 
regard  to  early  Vernacular  Bibles  confirms  the  statement 
that  before  the  Reformation  they  were  comparatively 
unknown.  They  were  not  printed  in  any  country,  in  a 
way  that  would  bring  them  within  the  reach  of  large 
numbers.  Perhaps  it  would  have  been  impossible  to  do 
this,  there  were  so  few  who  knew  how  to  read. 

Not  until  the  second  quarter  of  the  following  century 
were  those  German  and  English  versions  of  the  Bible 


94  FIFTEENTH   CENTURY    BIBLES. 

printed  which  have  moulded  the  language,  literature  and 
life  of  these  great  peoples.  All  these  earliest  Bibles, 
Latin  and  Vernacular,  which  have  been  mentioned  in 
this  volume,  are  of  interest  chiefly  on  account  of  their 
connection  with  the  history  of  the  art  of  printing.  Those 
who  appreciate  books  as  historic  objects,  and  especially 
those  who  cherish  ancient  Bibles,  may  find  something 
that  interests  them  in  this  study  in  bibliography. 


I^tintetr  at  tije  Jlrinting 
montt  of  3E.  U,  (tolt 
1  SSaiUiam  cSt 

Keto  ¥orfe 

*  * 


iJnUer* 


PAGE 

Adolphus,  Archbishop 39 

Albch,  or  Cremer,  Henry. 38 

Ambras,  Castle  of 51 

Antwerp  18 

Athanasian  Creed 50 

Augsburg 7-72 

Bibles. 

Burning  of 18-19 

Collection  of  Dr.  Ginsburg 83-91 

Copies  of 6 

Editions  of 7-8-9 

Languages  of 7 

Prohibition  of 10-22 

Bibles,  Latin,  in  Germany 35-82 

First  Printed,  Gutenberg  or  Mazarin 5-6-35-47-49-50-65 

Extant  Copies  of  Gutenberg  or  Mazarin 44-47 

Lenox  Library  Copy        "  "      45-46 

Bray  ton  Ives  Copy  "  "      46-47 

Theodore  Irwin  Volume  "  "      47 

Water-Marks  of  "  "      38 

Second  Printed,  Pfister,  or  Bamberg  Bible  of  Thirty- 
Six  Lines 55-59 

Third  Printed,  Mentelin  or  Strasburg 61-64 

Fourth  Printed,  First  Dated,  or  Bible  of  1462 65-69 

Eggesteyn,  or,  Fifth,  Sixth  and  Seventh  Printed 72 

Zell,  Ulric 72-73 

Coburger,  1475,  etc 80 

Frisner  and  Sensenschmid's 81 

Schoffer,  (1472) 77 

Folio,  (Strasburg,  1475).    83 

Bibles,  Latin,  in  Italy 73-74-83-87 

Rome  ;   First  Printed  in, — Sweynheym  and  Pannartz, 

1471 73-74 

Placentia  ;     First  Quarto,  1475 83 

Naples  ;   Folio,  (1476) 84 


ii.  INDEX. 

Bibles,  Latin,  in  Italy — Continued. 

Venice  ;  Small  Folio,  1475 85 

Hailbrun  and  Frankfordia's  Folio,  (1476) 85 

Jenson's  Folio,  (1476) 85 

Jensen's  Folio,  (1479) 86 

de  Ratisbon  and  de  Frankfordia's  Folio,  (147S) 86 

de  Reynsburck  and  de  Novimagio's  Folio,  (1478). ...  86 

Hailbrun's  Quarto,  (1480) 85 

de  Siligenstat's  Folio,  (1483) 86 

P.  de  Paganinis'  Folio,  (1495) 86 

H.  de  Paganinis'  Folio,  (1492) 87 

H.  de  Paganinis'  Octavo,  (1497) 87 

Ravabenis'  Quarto,  1487 86 

Bevilaqua's  Quarto,  (1494) 86 

Bevilaqua's  Quarto,  (1498) 86 

Bibles,  Latin,  in  Basle,  Switzerland 77-8o 

Rodt  and  Richel,  (1473-74) 77-78 

First  in  Octavo,  or.  Poor  Man's  Bible,  1491 79 

Nicolas  Kessler's  Folio,  1491 80 

Froben's  Quarto,  1495 79 

Froben's  Folio,  1498 79 

First  Paris  Latin  Folio,  (1476) 84 

Bibles,  Vernacular 89-94 

German  ;   First  Folio,  Strasburg,  (1466) 189 

Second  Folio,  Strasburg,  (1466) 90 

List  of  14  High  German 91 

List  of  3  Low  German 91 

Italian  ;  Vind.  de  Spira's  Folio,  Venice,  (1471) 91 

Jenson's  Folio,  Venice,  (1471) 91-92 

Bolognese's  Folio,  Venice,  (1477) 92 

Vercellese's  Folio,  Venice,  (1487) 92 

Dutch ;   Folio,  Delft,  1477 92 

French ;   Quarto,  New  Testament,  (1477) 92 

Paraphrase,  (1487) 92 

Bohemian  ;   Folio,  Prague,  1488 92 

Folio,  Kuttenberg,  1489 92 

Bibles,  Miscellaneous. 

Biblia  Pauperum 29-30-32 

Aurea  Biblia,  Ulm,  (1476) 84 

First  Hebrew,  Soncino,  {1488)  87 


INDEX.  iii. 

Bibles,  Miscellaneous — Continued. 

Pentateuch,  Hebrew,  Bologna. 87 

Psalms  in  Greek,  Milan,  1481 87 

Psalms  in  Latin,  Milan,  1481 87 

Bibles  in  Greek,  i6th  Century 87 

Breeches  Bible,  Genevan  Version,  1560 93 

Matthew's  Bible 18 

Babylonian  Seals 27 

Baemler,  J.,  of  Augsburg 72 

Berthold,  Archbishop 12 

Berthold,  Mandate  of 13-18 

Bevilaqua,  Simon 86 

Block  Books 27-33 

Bohemia 77 

Bologna 84-87 

Bolognese,  Antonio 92 

Book  of  Fables 57 

Book  of  Four  Stories 57 

Books  of  Hours. 25 

Breviaries 25 

British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society 86 

Bruges 73 

Bunyan,  John 8 

Catholicon,  The 41 

Caxton,  William 73-93 

Caxton  Exhibition,  (1877) 51-55-61-65-72-73-80-86-89-92 

Cervantes 8 

Charles  VII 86 

Cicero's  Epistola  ad  Familiares,  (1468) 85 

Cicero  de  Officiis,  (1465) 67 

Cicero  de  Oratore,  (1465) 74 

Clement  XL,  Pope 20 

Cologne S-72-73 

Comestiorium  Vitiorum,  (1470) 81 

Coster,  Laurens  Janszoon 6 

Coverdale 93 

Crantz,  Martinus 84 

Cremer,  or  Albch,  Henry 35-38-39 

De  Bure,  William  Francis 35-38 

Diethrich,  Alexander 16-17 


iv.  INDEX. 

Don  Quixote 8 

Durandus 67 

Durer,  Albert 28-82 

Eggesteyn,  Henry 63-72-90 

Eler,  Alexander 16-17 

Epirus 36 

Erasmus 79 

Erfurt,  University  of 16 

Faust,  Dr.  John 66 

Ferrara 84 

d'Ferratis,  Johannes  Petrus 83 

Fichet,  Guillaume 84 

Florence 84 

Form-Schneiders 27-28 

Francis,  King  of  France 20 

Frankfordia,  N.  de 85-86 

Frankfurt 16 

Friburger,  Michael 84 

Froben  de  Hammelbruck 79 

Fust  or  Faust,  John 39-6? 

Fust,  Peter 67 

Fust  and  Schoffer 49-50-52-53-65-66-67 

Gensfleisch  Family 42 

Gering,  Ulric 84 

Golden  Legende,  The 93 

Greek  Church 21; 

Gutenberg,  John 5 

Gutenberg,  Monuments  to 42-43 

Haarlem 6 

Hailbrun,  F.  de 85 

Hildebrand 11 

Humery,  Dr 39 

Images,  Books  of 27-33 

Imitation  of  Christ 7 

Incunabula 3-79 

Indulgence,  Letters  of 36 

Inquisition 19 

Inquisition,  Establishment  of 11 

Innspruck 51 

Jenson,  Nicolas 67-85-86 


INDEX.  V. 

John  II 36 

John  of  Genoa 41 

KefTer,  Henry 81 

Kempis,  Thomas-^ 7 

Koran,  The 9 

Library,  Althorp  or  Spencer 72-73-74-75-83 

Ambrosian,  Milan 83 

Astor 41-66-67-68 

Bodleian 73-79 

Brayton  Ives 41 

British  Museum 50-91 

Brown,  (Providence,  R.  I.) 41 

Cologne 8 

Corvinus,  Matthias,  King  of  Hungary 51 

Freiburg 61-62 

Hibbert 45 

Imperial  of  Vienna 51 

Lenox  (New  York) 8-32-41-62-66-72-75-78-80-84-85-91 

Mazarin,  Cardinal 35 

National,  of  Paris 35-38-55 

Perkins,  Henry 46 

Perkins,  Henry,  Sale  of 49 

Sigismund,  Arch-Duke 51 

Syston  Park 41-46 

Syston  Park,  Sale  of 46-49-50-65 

Louis  XI 86 

Luther,  Martin 90 

Madrid 8 

Malermi,  N.  de 92 

Mansion,  Colard 73 

Manuscripts 23-26 

Massimo,  Prince 74 

Melancthon,  Philip 80 

Mentelin,  Johannes 61-63-72-74-89 

Mentz 5-13-35-41-65 

Mentz,  University  of 16 

Meschede,  Theodoric  de 16-17 

Milan 87 

Missals 24 

Monacho,  Michael  de 84 


vi.  INDEX. 

Monasteries 24 

Monastery,  Benedictine 74 

Moravus,  Matt 84 

Naples 84 

Nicolas  v.,  Pope 36 

Nicosia 36 

Novimagio,  Reynaldi  de 86 

Nuremberg  Chronicle,  1493 81 

Nuremberg,  John  Bertram  de 16-17 

Paganinis,  Hieronimus  de 86 

Paganinis,  Paganinus  de 86 

Pfister,  Albert 55-57 

Pfister,  Sebastian 57 

Pierre,  Jean  de  la 84 

Pilgrim's  Progress 8 

Pope  Sixtus  IV 74 

Presbyterian  Board  of  Publication,  (Philadelphia) 80 

Printers,  Paris 84-86 

Printing,  Dispersion  of 71 

Printing,  Earliest 36 

Printing  in  Colors,  Earliest 50 

Printing,  Invention  of 40-41 

Psalters 25 

Psalter,  Meniz,  (Psalmorum  Codex) 49-54-67 

Psalter,  Mentz,  Fac-simile  of 50-54 

Quaritch,  Bernard 46 

Quesnel,  Pasquier 20 

Rampigollis,  Ant 84 

Rationale  Divinorum  Officiorum,  1459 67 

Ratisbon,  Leonardus  Wild  de 86 

Ravabenis,   Georgius 86 

Retza,  Franciscus  de 81 

Reutlingen,  Johan  Zeiner  de 84 

Reynsburck,  T.  de 86 

Riessinger,  Sixtus 84 

Rogers,  John 18 

Romanus,  Cardinal 11 

Rome,  City  of. , 74 

Rome,  Pagan 10 

Rome,  Papal 10 


INDEX.  vii. 

Schedel,  Hartman 8i 

Schoffer,  Peter 42 

Science  and  Religion 10 

Siligenstat,  Herbert  de 86 

Septuagint,  Aristeas,  History  of 92 

Smithfield 18 

Soncino 87 

Sorbonne,  Paris 84 

Speculum  Humanae  Sal vationis 30-32 

Spira,  John  de 85 

Staggemeier 50 

Stephens,  Robert 20 

Strasburg 62-63-89-90-gi 

Subiaco 74 

St.  Christopher  of  1423 28 

St.  Chrysostom  on  the  Fiftieth  Psalm 73 

St.  Francis,  Church  of 42 

St.  Jerome,  Epistles  of 63 

St.  Jerome,  Prologues  of 38 

St.  Victor,  Church  of 67 

Tintori,  Abraham  ben  Chayin  de 87 

Torquemada,  Cardinal 74 

Toulouse,  Council  of 11 

Trechsel  of  Lyons 42 

Trent,  Council  of 18 

Tyndale,  William 18-93 

Type-moulds 40 

Unigenitus,  Bull 20 

Uratislaus,  of  Bohemia 11 

Venice 84-85-86-87 

Vercellese,  John  Rosso 92 

A^ilvorden,  Castle  of 18 

Wiclif,  John 23 

Wittig,  Ivo 42 

Wood  Engraving 28 

Xylography 27 

Zainer,  Giinther 7 

Zell,  Ulric 72-73 

Zoen,  Jacob  Jacobs 92 

Zoen,  Mauritius  Temants 92 


Mtitvtnttn. 


PAGE 

Allibone,  S.  Austin 44 

Backer,  Aloys  de 7 

Backer,  Augustine  de 7 

Bigmore  and  Wsrman 36 

Birch  and  Jenner 24 

Blades,  William 73 

Borrow,  George 20 

De  Bure,  William  Francis 35-38 

De  Vinne,  Theodore  L 40-42-51-56-67-86 

Dibdin,  Thomas  Frognall 36-51 

D'Israeli,  Isaac 66 

Foumier,  le  jeune  P.  S 52 

Haeberlin,  F.  D 36 

Hain,  Ludwig 59 

HaUam,  Henry 40 

Hetnecken,  Carl  Heinrich 30-32-53 

Hawkins,  Rush  C 56-62-81-92 

Home,  Thomas  Hartwell 32-33 

Humphreys,  Noel 51 

Lambinet,  P 36 

Lichtenberger,  Jo.  Fred 53 

Lignamine,  Joh.  Philip  de 63 

Masch,  A.J 37-59 

Meerman,  G 52 

Panzer,  G.  W.  F 84 

Stevens,  Henry 71-75 

Wurdtwein,  S.  A 53 


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